Apple’s Acquisition of Beats Music Delayed At Least a Week
Last week, news that Apple was getting ready to drop $3.2 billion on buying the high end headphone and music streaming company Beats shocked the tech world. But a new report suggests that the deal may not be as finalized as many first believed.
A post on Recode from yesterday offers up just a smidge of information regarding delays on what had seemed to be a done deal. According to “people familiar with the transaction,” the deal may not be finalized until next week. The reasons for the hold-up are as mysterious as the actual motivations for the acquisition in the first place.
A post on BGR points out that the two head honchos of Beats, Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine, are set to hit the stage at Apple’s WWDC event at the start of next month. Could this deal’s delay have something to do with Dre and Iovine’s roles with Apple going forward? Just what, exactly, will the two of them do there anyway?
There are still questions as to why Apple would pay this much for Beats at all. The company makes highly sought-after headphones, though there are questions as to whether or not the quality of those products actually match their reputation. That goes double for its music streaming business, which, as of last month, wasn’t doing so hot.
Certainly a company that’s struggling in terms of bringing in subscribers would be thrilled to suddenly have Apple’s backing. But what does Apple get out of it? If you’ll recall, HTC phones used to come with Beats sound-boosting something-or-others built in. Despite their partnership, the handset maker didn’t really sell many more units after having the Beats logo printed on their phones. That deal ended in September of last year.
So does Apple simply want to do what HTC did and get the Beats logo on its iPhones? That seems doubtful, too. It’s not like Apple has a tough time selling phones as it is. Hopefully if and when this deal goes through we’ll get a clearer picture as to what Apple actually wants out of Beats.