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Apple Announces $3 Billion Beats Acquisition, Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre Joining the Company

From what I've read this deal is supposed to shore up Apple's marketshare in streaming music.

Couldn't Apple have simply purchased Spotify and Pandora for far, far less money than $3,000,000,000?

(Although I guess they wouldn't own the crappy Beats headphone brand if they did that... :rolleyes: )
 
Gimme a break, naysayers.

This is about more than headphones, a lot more.

Sure, Apple probably justifies the pricetag with the fact that Beats Audio pulls in over a billion a year, which will make this deal pay for itself in a few years.

But more than that it's about the talent, the connections that come with that talent, and the built-in streaming system now that Beats has Beats Music (which is already pretty much better than Spotify and Rdio except for the fact that it doesn't have a lot of cross-compatibility with devices and desktops yet).

Good for Dre and Iovine, but I also think this will probably turn into some really nice things for Apple users too. If they can get Beats Music integrated into iTunes that will be a pretty gigantic threat to Spotify, which by the way still hasn't even turned a profit in all these years.

$3B is nothing compared to what Apple has laying around.
 
nuckinfutz said:
Hip Hop and the Tech Sector just don't mix.

Wait a minute ...

YouTube: video

:D:D:D:D:D
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Any reference to Office Space is an _automatic_ up vote :D

"Not all chicks.”
"Well, the type of chicks that'd double up on a dude like me do."
"Good point.”

(Just fired it up ... !)
 
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Well it's official. Beats has parted ways with Ammunition - the 3rd party design consultancy responsible for the headphone and speaker designs. Apple is now taking over all design. So I guess Jony and Dre will become best buds now. :D

http://www.ammunitiongroup.com/work/1922-2/
The Beat Goes On
We at Ammunition are absolutely thrilled that Beats—a business, a brand, a collection of products, and a group of friends that we have put so much of ourselves into—is becoming a part of Apple, arguably one of the world’s greatest companies and certainly the most design-led company of our era.

As a studio focused on pushing the limits of what design can do to create new business opportunities, we cannot imagine a more validating outcome. My journey with Beats began with a small meeting in 2006 with Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre at Interscope Records. The incredible impact that the design of Beats has had on culture as a result of our collaboration since that first meeting is still unbelievable to me. I am humbled by the thought that millions of music-loving people proudly wear Beats on streets all over the world.

Over the next few months, the design for Beats will transition away from Ammunition. It’s tough to step down as Chief Designer for a brand I take so much pride in, but it certainly makes it easier knowing we are handing the reigns over to one of the world’s most successful design teams.

Ammunition was founded on the idea that great design plays a powerful role in creating not just new products and brands, but great new business concepts and companies as well. Our team will continue to focus on that daily, and we look forward to continuing our work with clients and business partners, and welcoming the unknown opportunities that are waiting for us out there.

I’d like to take a moment to personally thank Jimmy, Dre, and Luke Wood. In addition to being great design partners, they have been incredible mentors to me over that last eight years, and they have helped me to grow as a designer and as a leader. And thanks to the entire team at Beats for an amazing, rewarding journey. We wish them all the best for their next chapter.

Robert Brunner
Founder, Ammunition
Click to expand...
 
appleinvite.jpg


This rumor came out a looooong time ago!
 
Arndroid said:
Shocking.

(Not really to sensible people).

Very solid acquisition that pays for itself while providing apple potential huge upside benefits. Not to mention the synergy between one of the largest headphone makers and one of the largest headphone jack makers.

Financially the deal is a no brainer. Despite what some think, the headphone business makes good sense in relation to apple products. Getting the streaming service as well as iovine and Dre, well they were essentially free as the headphone business alone pretty much makes the price tag a great deal.

I have mentioned it before but the opportunity to buy highly succesful companies who make lots of money and also offer other significant opportunities are almost non existent. Apple hasn't made a deal like this because no deal this good existed. Some will ignorantly say apple should have paid way more to buy spotify, which loses money. That would have been a horrible idea and even a worse business move. Apple can reinvest the money beats earns into growing the streaming service and become legitimate competitors for a fraction of the price and infinity times more value.

I know some people's business education is entirely what they have seen happen in the technology sector in the past fifteen years but spending billions of dollars for companies who don't make money is not normal. So while Facebook can pat themselves on the back for flushing nineteen billion dollars down the toilet on whatsapp and google can gladly dance joyously that they spend three billion on a thermostat and faulty smoke detector, or even better lost billions on their Mototola deal, apple will have to console themselves with buying a company that is likely in a ~15 P/E ratio, that throws in two highly succesful music execs and a streaming service.
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This forum has no room for rational thoughts like yours.
 
Happy for the Doc. People forget that he had to start from scratch twice after getting screwed by Jerry Heller and later Suge Knight. He Walked away from Deathrow with nothing and now he's worth almost a billion dollars. If anyone deserve this success its him.
 
But mostly, backing up -- it's because we always are future-focused. So it's not what Apple and Beats are doing today. It's what we believe pairing the two together can produce for the future.
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So... that's what I am thinking...

20rwm83.jpg
 
OllyW said:
That'll be the second time Jony has taken over from his old boss. :)
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Yep. :)

I still get the feeling Tim has got the executive team stretched too thin. Ive has all hardware and software design and now has to add Beats to his plate. Does Beats have a large staff of hardware engineers or does all the hardware stuff fall under existing Apple employees?
 
So much ignorance here: “I don’t understand why wah wah wah”

If you can’t see why this is a great deal for Apple (and everyone involved) let me remind you that Beats generates 1.5bn in revenue every year. Even if there was no benefit to acquiring Dre and Iovine to strengthen Apple’s core in the media industries (the main reason for this deal) or the Beats streaming service (secondary), the deal will pay for itself in two years or less.

And THEN even if it didn’t and people just stopped buying Beats headphones (which they won’t), 3Bn is CHUMP CHANGE for Apple. They could literally just burn the money and make it back in 2.5 months.
 
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Apple Announces $3 Billion Beats Acquisition, Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre Joinin...

rantor49 said:
Dre is already worth and estimated $80million. Add the money from the beats deal and its way over $1billion. You sound like a hater anyway....
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Far from. I very much enjoyed '2001' and his work with Eminem. The rest I could take or leave, but I like and admire him.

Your $80m estimate is wrong, by the way - or at least inaccurate. Others have pegged him as being worth much more. Forbes actually has him down for $550m before this acquisition, after which he'll receive roughly $750m pre-taxes.
 
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So much for "we're only interested in making the best products". They will have to go a long way to persuade me to spend any money on those over priced crappy Beats headphones and their speakers are even worse.
 
furi0usbee said:
Tim made Jimmy take off his hat!!! Finally!!!! I've never seen him without that hat, and now I know why. But go bald gracefully! Way to go Jimmy!
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Not sure why this excites you so much. It's not like Iovine is the first bald guy to hold a high position at 1 Infinite Loop. (A couple of guys named Steve Jobs and Jonathan Ive come to mind.)
 
flux73 said:
Why is it only Dre who is laughing all the way to the bank? And why is there only resentment for him? Iovine didn't make just as much if not more? I don't see anything close to this level of resentment for him. Is he more deserving?
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It’s because he’s hated on by most these people
With no cheese, no deals and no Gs, no wheels and no keys
No boats, no snowmobiles and no skis

----------
kaltsasa said:
Fur sure, the thing that has gotten me irate for years is not 200 dollar headphones. It's that people spend 200 dollars for bass heavy, unbalanced headphones when they could get some damn nice sennheiser's for the price.
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Maybe you should stop getting so irate with other people’s purchasing decisions and just enjoy your nice Sennheisers. Trust me, your life will be better off for it.
 
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