ShinobiFist
Banned
Yup. Get out you people with ugly cans that have a headphone amplifier with FLAC music on your portables!
Its official: Apple just bought Beats for $3 Billion
- Thread starter Maninthemirror
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Yup. Get out you people with ugly cans that have a headphone amplifier with FLAC music on your portables!
Warm Machine
Member
Let this be a lesson that great design, beautiful point of purchase, and serious marketing can achieve anything.
SneakySneaks
Member
Why? Beats are overrated as hell and of poor quality. Dre is a genius marketer though.
crazepharmacist
Member
Beats headphones are garbage and I avoid Apple's overpriced products as it is so I don't really care.
Thanks for stopping in and sharing this?
Liu Kang Baking A Pie
Member
I'm learning a lot of new things every time I open this.
There is no official source, since they won't make the costs public. We are talking about estimates. Estimates always have been around 20 dollars. And since we are talking about massproduced cheap-plastic from China... it only can get lower.
This time though many (most?) of the people saying Beats is overpriced are actually Apple fans
SneakySneaks
Member
I don't care for Beats, I think Turtle Beach makes better headphones. Can't speak for the pill though.
This is Dre's world and we just living in it. All the Apple cry babies thinking this is a bad purchase need to understand that even if they were to close the headphone business, they would still get their money back and more if they maximize the connections of both Dre and Iovine have with the industry. The fact that Apple's PR even focuses mostly on the music aspect of this tells you that selling 10 dollar headphones for 400 bucks is just the icing on the cake.
Ninja Scooter
Member
I guess Dr Dre really gotta say it was a good day today!
Furthermore, they spent 3 out of a total of 156 BILLION in cash reserves Apple had and making it out like this will hurt them.
ItWasMeantToBe19
Banned
Is there a Monster Cables defense force as well?
That was Ice Cube originally.
I know some people are worried about the money, but I think the issue is a lot of people look down on beats and don't want them to be associated with Apple like this.
thefunkyman
Banned
No, not really.
If you take laptop comparisons, for example, people often say things like "that Dell has the same CPU and the same amount of RAM as that Macbook, but it costs $300 less!", but people aren't taking into account the weight, build quality, battery life, trackpad, keyboard, screen etc. If you price up a Windows laptop that's comparable to a Macbook in every way, it often costs around the same, sometimes even more.
Apple stuff has its own software attached to it that many people like, including the operating systems. A lot of people prefer iOS to Android, or OS X to Windows. None of that is relevant at all to headphones.
Also, when you are recommending a laptop to someone, you take into account their needs. For example, my dad wanted a laptop so he could browse the web, send/receive email, and to play Football Manager. I bought him a Dell because there was no point in spending twice as much on a Macbook.
Choosing Beats headphones is the equivalent of buying my dad's cheapo Dell laptop for twice as much as a Macbook Pro just because you like the name "Dell" or think that the Dell's laptop case looks cool. It's not a choice that a wise person makes.
What if Apple makes them better?
That's pretty irrelevant to the topic at hand, the only thing that matters to Apple is that they can make money off their investments in the long run.
Nicktendo86
Member
Kinda funny this was announced the same day as Google show off the prototype for their self driving car, I know who my money is on to still be relevant in 20-30 years time.
I am just joking, please don't hate me.
BolognaSoup
Member
Better than Audeze, Sennheiser, AKG, HiFi Man, Beyerdynamic, Fostex, etc.? LOL
Better than the current Beats product. I'm not sure how you could misconstrue that.
You laugh but people are buying these for good marketing so Apple makes money off of this either way. What's so funny?
CountBlack
Member
Atta boy Dre.
Jay Z lost.
Jay Z lost.
They potentially could! I wouldn't be surprised if they tied it into wearable tech in general. But that's all up in the air right now, I just know a lot of people think Beats are just an all around bad brand, and some don't want them to succeed and some don't want them associated with Apple. I guess some people might also think that Beats are a great brand and this somehow strengthens Apple, and they hate Apple so they are salty... but I don't really think there are a lot of people on GAF who feel that positively about beats.
OriginalNameGuy
Member
Dre got his cash. Good for him.
But I doubt that's the case with Apple.
When has Apple overpaid or spent a large amount of money on something that didn't work out?
And beats has 1 billion in revenue. I don't classify this as a crazy acquisition. It's actually a smart acquisition if you look at it. Apple gets headphones that have high market share, they get beats subscription service, get two executives with ties in the industry, and get how many employees from beats and integrate it in iTunes team.
If apple paid 10 billion for beats and beats had zero revenue and was a proof of concept than I'd say it is apple being crazy. But this acquisition is far from it.
If within the next 5 years Apple doesn't release a Beat branded wearable I'll eat my hat cake.
Trojita
Rapid Response Threadmaker
Is that guy on the left jacking it?
I don't even know why most are so fixated on the headphones, it's obvious Apple bought it for several other reasons as well. It's a smart move and Apple will make it work, and for the average consumer who isn't an audiophile they will think all of this is awesome. It's a win for them.
Doc Holliday
SPOILER: Columbus finds America
Monster am cry lol
Cook put it well when he said that Apple has a global footprint. Right now Beats do not. Beats have proven themselves worthy and able to make good money doing what they do. Apple buying them is like them putting their foot down on the gas peddle with Beats' ability to make money. It can go from the top selling 3rd party hardware in apples stores here to the one of the top selling first party (meaning more profits) EVERYWHERE. He said he thinks they'll make the money back by the end of 2015. I could see that.
Yes, it's built into the outer lining right below the RF blocking polyethylene nylon webbed casing.
Angelus Errare
Banned
And many people will shell out money for an Macbook just to do all that because it's by Apple.
At the end of the day it's all about brand power for the average consumer. Hell I'm willing to bet you've overpaid for something of average quality compared to better alternatives out there.
So it's like buying an iPod back when there were better build quality MP3 players with more storage back in the day with better audio and played more formats? Or buying an iPod touch when Zune HD and other MP3 players existed?
But really the main question is...why you so mad doe?
Dreams-Visions
Member
told you monkeys that video shit wouldn't matter.
this shit is about dollars and sense.
Also, Beats aren't bad headphones. They used to be all name and no substance. There are still better headphones for the money in most of their price ranges, but it's not a landslide like it used to be. They aren't Bose, for example. Turbines are still among the best in class, iirc.
this shit is about dollars and sense.
Also, Beats aren't bad headphones. They used to be all name and no substance. There are still better headphones for the money in most of their price ranges, but it's not a landslide like it used to be. They aren't Bose, for example. Turbines are still among the best in class, iirc.
I think those people need to take a long, hard look in the mirror.
Don't forget HTC...they sold 50% of beats back for $265 million last year.
ReturnOfTheRAT
Member
You just learned that today?
Maybe, just maybe, Apple wants to move into the Bose market of high end speakers/headphones and decided instead of building up a company they'd just buy one and fix what's wrong with it.
If you could get the Beats branding on higher end speakers that last a long time, they'd probably sell better than they already are. Though I swore they weren't as popular anymore.
If you could get the Beats branding on higher end speakers that last a long time, they'd probably sell better than they already are. Though I swore they weren't as popular anymore.
Iacobellis
Junior Member
Damn...
Dreams-Visions
Member
Brushing the dust off of my Chronic CD. Good day.
My hope is that the beats integration doesn't somehow make apple branded EarPods or their other IEMs worse. The ones they sell now are actually decent. If they all start skewing to the flubby bass of the beats sound in a couple years it would be a step back.
Let's see if that subscription service can Become something interesting and international.
Let's see if that subscription service can Become something interesting and international.
Phoenix
Member
Its all about the NPV - not the random numbers. Given the subscription counts and the volume that beats is rumored to be earning, that's a fairly sizable multiple for an industry that is actually pretty crowded and in need of some consolidation. I think that Apple paid about 30% more than the company is actually worth in future value given their rumored profits - even given the fact that they are picking up music industry executives in the process. I don't think the deal was stupid like some, just that they spent more than they could have purchased them for because they had the extra cash - as is historically the case with cash rich companies that make acquisitions.
thefunkyman
Banned
Right, but if they are ONLY buying something because it says "Apple" on it, rather than because it's a quality product that's best (or at least up there) for their needs, I'd say they're foolish as well.
If a friend of yours spent $2,000 on a laptop that was worse than one that was $1,000, but they said "well I preferred the way it looks", would you not think they made a foolish decision? I would.
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