Apple is an odd company when it comes to acquisitions, unlike the other big four tech companies (Google, Microsoft, Facebook) they have not stepped over the $1 billion acquisition mark in the thirty years in business.
This could all change this year, Apple is apparently looking to acquire Beats Electronics for $3.2 billion. Tyrese Gibson posted a video with Dr. Dre basically confirming the acquisition was happening in a Facebook video.
Beats Electronics is about more than just headphones, it makes audio products for companies like HTC and has recently acquired MOG, now named Beats Music, their own music streaming service.
For Apple, this is not only grabbing one of the most popular audio fashion brands, but expanding their music service out from its traditional iTunes platform and Pandora-like iTunes Radio service, into music streaming.
This could put Beats Music up against Spotify and Rdio, two of the most loved music streaming services worldwide. Apple’s money and influence on the music industry could make Beats Music one of the biggest competitors in the scene.
The price for the acquisition is exactly the same as Google paid for Nest Labs, the smart home developers. We cannot really compare the two in terms of value, considering Beats Electronics is already making a lot of money and Nest Labs continues to sink money into their future projects.
If Apple does go for this, it is most likely due to the Beats Music streaming service and not the headphone business. Apple already has their own headphones and unless they want to switch to Beats for the iPhone, we cannot see this being a big focus when the deal goes down.
Beats Electronics is one of the biggest and most well known headphones and audio companies in the world, but a lot of people find the prices of their headphones to be way too expensive and the quality of sound not as good as some other brands.
