“Let’s be honest: Apple’s $3 billion acquisition of Beats Electronics isn’t a sexy acquisition,” Yoni Heisler writes for TUAW. “he deal doesn’t provide nearly as much room for speculation and intrigue as would exist if Apple purchased a company like, say, Nest or Netflix.”
“But the more I look at the deal and the overall headwinds of the music industry, Apple’s acquisition of Beats may very well prove to be a huge money maker for the company,” Heisler writes. “And depending on how Apple chooses to position Beats against Spotify, it may even help drive iOS sales later down the road.”
“n acquiring Beats, Apple now has a subscription music service under its control,” Heisler writes. “Apple also has over 800 million credit cards on file. The combination of the two is extremely potent and will allow Apple to more efficiently leverage those credit card accounts.”
Read more in the full article here.
Related articles:
Apple insiders: Arrogant Apple managers are the reasons why iTunes Radio sucks, Ping failed, and Apple had to buy Beats – June 5, 2014
Jimmy Iovine: Apple’s new music impresario – May 29, 2014
Apple’s deep ties with Jimmy Iovine key driver of Beats deal – May 12, 2014
Underwhelming start to iTunes Radio lights fire under Apple; iTunes Store may get dramatic overhaul – April 9, 2014
The curious design decisions of Apple’s iTunes Radio – April 1, 2014
Apple’s underwhelming iTunes Radio turns 6 months old – March 5, 2014
Apple’s iTunes Radio is broken: Here’s how to fix it in a weekend – November 11, 2013
“Apple’s Beats acquisition may prove to be a huge money maker”
May??
Well let’s see, I paid 99.00 for a pair of Beats a few months ago, They have replaced them twice already…how is that a money maker?
Solid logic, Ken.
Those are the cheap ones. I bought a pair of the Solo HD ‘phones from eBay for £70, a saving of £100, and I’m really impressed with them.
Sound quality is, however, just as crappy as reviews say.
However, I bought them knowing that, because I use an App called EQu, originally for my Etymotic ER6i’s which have very little bass.
Using EQu, I’ve created a curve which sonically transforms the Solo HD’s, so it’s really worth picking up a pair from eBay, and using EQu to make them sound very much better.
And they’re really comfy for extended wear, too, and being able to replace the cable makes a big difference to longevity.
What is this guy talking about? Acquiring Nest would have been sexier than Beats?
Beats has huge room for Apple to grow and infuse music completely — sales, streaming, expanding iTunes Originals, exclusive deals, etc. etc. It also gives Apple Iovine, who may be able to finally get Hollywood on board with Apple’s plans for AppleTV, in all of its various rumored iterations.
That’s far sexier than acquiring Nest or Netflix, whose products are known and not really expanding that much.
Agreed. Not much out there could be sexier than acquiring Beats. The headphones are apparently not that great – so they ride pretty much solely on their sexiness. Netflix is not sexy. Nest even less so.
Apple should buy Hed Kandi next!
I bought 8 nest products before Google acquired them. 4 died within the first 2 months, 1 I sold on eBay, and the other 3 were disposed of with other trash.
MDN needs to proofread these things before they post them. Come on! You’re the first to throw around the [sic]s when someone else screws up, yet you make the same stupid mistakes at least once a day.
Anyway. OF COURSE the Beats acquisition is going to be a huge money-maker for Apple once they have time to do what they want to do with it (and the people they’ve acquired with it). This is the beginning of something big.
I am still very conflicted with Apple’s Beats purchase. Dr. Dre just isn’t a good role-model for the youth in my culture. His music glamorizes sex, violence, and treating women like dogs. I never want any of my kids to listen to any of his material. Michael Jackson was a better icon. He was all about love, and making the world a better place. I still can’t believe Sony is using his music to sell their Xperia Android phones. Well…maybe I can, since MJ’s estate owns half of $ony. But still. There are no good music role models for people in my culture, and it makes me sad at times.
Sorry, but enough of the Michael Jackson already, we know you’re obsessed with him.
Sony owns a huge chunk of MJ’s publishing because he was $500 million in debt at the time he died, and was using his music catalogue, and that of the Beatles and Buddy Holly, to support his drug habit and his mind-bogglingly extravagant spendthrift life-style.
You might have fallen for his self-promoting, Messianic posturing, but most of us aren’t so easily fooled.
Michael Jackson was all about buggering little boys.
Dr. Dré was in a rap group that pointed out the brutality that exists in much of urban America.
Your choice…
Yeah, Nest was an amazing purchase. Two products, one of which is subject to a complete recall and both of which are hugely expensive.
Even if the sound is God whispering in your ear, no one is going to get rich on a boutique audio hardware company.
There is more here than meets the eye. Only Apple knows why they did this.
At least it’s getting the media to talk about nothing in particular.