# What's your take on Apple acquiring Beats for $3.2 billion? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 12, 2014, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-take-on-apple-acquiring-beats-for-3-2-billion/688232 "2014-05-12T02:38:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Little\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c57346/32.png) [@Little\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Pig)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2014, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-take-on-apple-acquiring-beats-for-3-2-billion/688232/1 "2014-05-12T02:38:39Z")
[Subscription services?](http://time.com/93557/apple-beats/) How did Apple miss this? ---
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2014, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-take-on-apple-acquiring-beats-for-3-2-billion/688232/2 "2014-05-12T02:45:56Z")
They want Jimmy. ---
**Author:** ![tellyworth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/977dab/32.png) [@tellyworth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tellyworth)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2014, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-take-on-apple-acquiring-beats-for-3-2-billion/688232/3 "2014-05-12T02:58:02Z")
It’s not really clear why they bought Beats. They already have a subscription streaming music service - iTunes Radio. And if they want to turn that into a Spotify-style on-demand service, they’re already in a better position than anyone else to do it. ---
**Author:** ![Absolute](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b2d939/32.png) [@Absolute](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Absolute)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2014, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-take-on-apple-acquiring-beats-for-3-2-billion/688232/4 "2014-05-12T04:23:37Z")
I don’t get it at all. Notably, Apple has not actually confirmed these rumors or released any kind of official statement as far as I’m aware. Perhaps when they eventually do it will be clearer. Beats has nothing that I can imagine is worth $3.2B to Apple. Really a head-scratcher. Music is not even a big deal to Apple anymore. In addition to iTunes Radio, all the subscription music services support iOS anyway, including Beats, so it’s not as if Apple is gaining access to some kind of technology that their devices are lacking. I don’t see why it makes a difference to Apple whether you are listening to music from a third-party app or from iTunes - they make their money selling the hardware. I suppose they might like to have the best streaming service themselves, so as to attract more users to their devices, but how many people would let the availability of a marginally superior streaming service influence their purchase of a smartphone, tablet or computer? People use their devices for so much more than just listening to music these days. And is Beat’s service even any better than the various other ones on the market? Just bizarre. There must be more to the story than is obvious from the outside. ---
**Author:** ![akaii](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/58956e/32.png) [@akaii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/akaii)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2014, 7:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-take-on-apple-acquiring-beats-for-3-2-billion/688232/5 "2014-05-12T07:48:24Z")
My guess is the deal was done for branding reasons. They could be incorporating the Beats audio system into the Iphone 6? the HP and Beats partnership for the 3 HP laptops did pretty well so my guess, that’s the direction they are heading… ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c57346/32.png) [@Little\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Pig)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2014, 11:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-take-on-apple-acquiring-beats-for-3-2-billion/688232/6 "2014-05-12T11:09:56Z")
Don’t doubt any of the above, but 3.2 Billion for audio? Something here just don’t jive. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2014, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-take-on-apple-acquiring-beats-for-3-2-billion/688232/7 "2014-05-12T13:54:14Z")
Seems like a stupid purchase to me. No idea why this technology giant would need someone else’s software when they could just write their own. And no, I don’t think Apple needs the Beats “brand” at all; Apple is one of the most recognizable and well-thought-of brands on the planet. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2014, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-take-on-apple-acquiring-beats-for-3-2-billion/688232/8 "2014-05-12T14:02:31Z")
All I can figure is, Apple has all that money burning a hole in their pocket, and they’re itching to spend it. That’s the only way this makes any sense to me. Either that, or Dr. Dre has some really good hidden camera footage of Tim Cook from that last cocaine party… ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2014, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-take-on-apple-acquiring-beats-for-3-2-billion/688232/9 "2014-05-12T14:11:13Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > Seems like a stupid purchase to me. No idea why this technology giant would need someone else’s software when they could just write their own. And no, I don’t think Apple needs the Beats “brand” at all; Apple is one of the most recognizable and well-thought-of brands on the planet. They want Android users, and the Apple brand won’t get them. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2014, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-take-on-apple-acquiring-beats-for-3-2-billion/688232/10 "2014-05-12T14:16:48Z")
> [@Labrador\_Deceiver](#): > > They want Android users, and the Apple brand won’t get them. Is Beats that huge among Android users? ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2014, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-take-on-apple-acquiring-beats-for-3-2-billion/688232/11 "2014-05-12T14:25:15Z")
I have no idea, but the point is they’ll have a recognized brand that isn’t Apple. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2014, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-take-on-apple-acquiring-beats-for-3-2-billion/688232/12 "2014-05-12T15:24:12Z")
This represents a change for Apple, aside from being the biggest acquisition it’s made. It’s also the first time, I think, that Apple bought an existing brand. It may represent a change in philosophy between Jobs and Cook. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2014, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-take-on-apple-acquiring-beats-for-3-2-billion/688232/13 "2014-05-12T15:35:13Z")
> [@cmyk](#): > > Is Beats that huge among Android users? I’m sure the streaming service is split pretty evenly amongst iOS and Android, and this is a solid way to get into that Android customer base. I’m not familiar with the Beats service, but Apple can now likely link purchases through that to the Apple Store. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2014, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-take-on-apple-acquiring-beats-for-3-2-billion/688232/14 "2014-05-12T15:51:53Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > This represents a change for Apple, aside from being the biggest acquisition it’s made. It’s also the first time, I think, that Apple bought an existing brand. It may represent a change in philosophy between Jobs and Cook. Depends on what you mean by an existing brand. [Here’s](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mergers_and_acquisitions_by_Apple) a list of mergers and acquisitions. To me, I consider NeXT to be pretty significant. The ancestor to iOS. But surely you agree that Siri is quite a famous brand takeover. I think it’s a combination of buying prestige plus brand spreading. They want to sell products with earphones with Beats labels on them (never mind the quality). ---
**Author:** ![Robert163](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/4af34b/32.png) [@Robert163](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robert163)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2014, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-take-on-apple-acquiring-beats-for-3-2-billion/688232/15 "2014-05-12T16:01:35Z")
ding dong the witch is dead ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2014, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-take-on-apple-acquiring-beats-for-3-2-billion/688232/16 "2014-05-12T16:02:42Z")
I don’t think Siri was an established brand before Apple started to promote it.