HP Partnership With Apple's Beats Officially Ends as HP Moves on to Bang & Olufsen

[MH01]

Sure, when you put it that way. But let's talk about real world. There are people right here on MR who have spent $500 on an iPad for their 4 year old. So tell me, how do think so many kids age 12-15 are walking around wearing $300 Beats headphones? Oh here's a thought, maybe their parents paid for them. Oh there goes your argument.

Rubbish. As you always do , you twisted the arguement to suit your conclusion , geez!

You have no proof parents are spending $500 on iPads for 4 year olds, in which case it's the parents iPad, not relevant to the point raised. A 4 year old does not have any income ...

A 12-15 year old kid cannot save up money and buy a beats headset that costs less than $300? The guy you replied to was right, some can... Here is a thought, not everyone comes from a privileged area where parents buy them expansive items. SHOCK!!!

You sir are judge , jury and executioner when it comes to replies. You judge what is right , you twist the reply to suit that and you inform the other party of the verdict.

Read what is written by people! Not what you and to see, to suit your conclusion !! People will respect your opinions a lot more if you allows other to have.... An opinion ?

 

[Wiesenlooser]

Why would B&O (a fav of Steve IIRC) want to devalue their brand by hooking up with HP?

Makes me wonder if B&O is hurting for cash or is planning to move downmarket.

They have been moving downmarket for quite some time introducing cheaper (but not cheap) headphones. But yeah - HP ist not the first thing that comes in mind when you think about bo

 

[Wahlstrm]

Good for HP, maybe not so much for B&O.
That is some plastic **** your brand is going to be put on to..

All quality-based logic says B&O is way better than Beats.

But..

Apple wanted the fanbase of Beats: Millions of kids with 50 years of consuming ahead of them..

B&O´s fanbase is for the most part seniors who is on their next to last purchase..

 

[smallscratch]

Does someone recognize the chair?

I do like that wooden chair in the background - any idea someone?

 

[Ploki]

You guys are mostly missing the point.

Apple didn't acquire beats for their splendid sound quality, but for their costumers base and streaming service, and industry professionals that came with the purchase.

B&O has none of that. Nor would apple benefit at all for buying out B&O, they're not in that market.

 

[maflynn]

I think Bang & Olufsen is a step up, though for some reason people do like Beats/

 

[roadbloc]

Wow. HP have actually come out of this shining even more than before. B&O over Beats anyday.

 

[69Mustang]

Have you ever bought something , conviencing yourself that it would be awesome , even though it cost sooo much, and once you got it , the novelty wore off, and it just sits there. When you look back, you think to yourself "damn that was a stupid purchase, but I'm not selling it cause the wife will never let me hear the end of it " That's were I think apple is

Genuinely curious, why do you think Apple is at that point? Is there something that happened to lead you to think they may have buyer's remorse?

 

[Arran]

Apple wanted the fanbase of Beats: Millions of kids with 50 years of consuming ahead of them..

B&O´s fanbase is for the most part seniors who is on their next to last purchase..

Made me laugh. Uncomfortably

May be a grain of truth in that.

----------

I think Bang & Olufsen is a step up, though for some reason people do like Beats/

I think the problem is accessibility.

Beats are in Walmart and zillions of other stores.

B&O has 35 stores in the US. There's one in Atlanta, and the next one is 560 miles away in Norfolk Virginia. That's the problem.

 

[0000757]

Beats are really low quality. One must be deaf to find that good. B&O tops Beats a million times. Beats only sell because of the hype.

Or I'm just writing that because I'm from Denmark...

Anyway. B&O and Apple would be a dream team. 2 Products known for "quality" and being a statement to own.

I know nothing of the over-ear/on-ear headphones, but their earbuds are really good and high quality. A little expensive yes, but I think they're worth the purchase.

 

[Chupa Chupa]

Why would B&O (a fav of Steve IIRC) want to devalue their brand by hooking up with HP?

Makes me wonder if B&O is hurting for cash or is planning to move downmarket.

I wondered the same thing. They have deals with Audi, BMW, Aston Martin. Somehow you add HP to the mix and you want to sing that old Sesame Street song "which one of these doesn't belong." But to be fair who else in the electronics industry could they partner with? HP is probably the most upscale primarily consumer Win PC maker left.

 

[Tubamajuba]

Don't say that in front of the dedicated Apple users, they think that anything outside Apple only last about 3 to 6 months.

Most of them now will hate B&O and HP it's just the way they are, anything that goes outside the Apple circle is rubbish.

They all loved Bose, when Apple dropped them they hated it, but now they love it again.

Maybe for some people.

As for you, I'm sure you love B&O now that they're affiliated with someone that competes against Apple. And you probably hated Bose until Apple dropped them from their stores- once that happened, suddenly Bose became cool.

I mean hey, as long as we're carelessly and ridiculously stereotyping people for no reason...

 

[MH01]

Genuinely curious, why do you think Apple is at that point? Is there something that happened to lead you to think they may have buyer's remorse?

Seems the purchase is just sitting on the shelf for me, if I'm being really honest. I guess I was expecting something exciting or innovative to result from it .

I'll be honest, I once bought beats and had buyers remorse , so yes, I'll be honest and admit my comment did have some bias.

Maybe Apple is making its money back from it , none of us know.

 

[Naimfan]

Why would B&O (a fav of Steve IIRC) want to devalue their brand by hooking up with HP?

Makes me wonder if B&O is hurting for cash or is planning to move downmarket.

Let's take a breath here.

B&O is significantly ovepriced for the sound quality, build quality, and reliability it offers. Plainly put, it's one step ahead of mass market junk, and it is easy to put together a much better sounding system for a lot less money.

As for design, well, that's in the eye of the beholder. Personally, I find it tired - they've been pushing the same schtick for 30-40 years, without any redeeming qualities.

An older and more expensive version of B***.

 

[k1121j]

lol funny thing is that they still probably use the same speakers just with a different sticker just like the car manufactures do.. and people think they are getting the real thing

 

[RickInHouston]

It's refreshing to see here everyone is in agreement which company got the substance and which company got the lipstick.

 

[rdlink]

I don't think there is anything wrong with my 17" 2010 hp elite book. Even the gpu is user upgradable. its a hell of a workstation imo. It just doesn't have battery life. But that's a windows problem.

All of our servers are hp proliants, but those aren't laptops.

Hp makes some quality products

You might be able to sell that to somebody who hasn't owned or supported them. I have.

But it's not really an HP issue as much as a Windows computer issue. The market has driven the profit margins so low that the manufacturers have to produce junk in order to compete. It's really sad.

Admittedly, it's not as bad on the enterprise side, because they don't get the same market pressure, and they can build some profit into their support models. But the consumer stuff is pure junk. And that's where you're going to see the B&O speakers.

 

[Bubba Satori]

I'm only 20, I wasn't alive in either of those decades

All I know HP for is their garbage PCs. Although their old printers were impressive. I'm pretty sure my dad still has some working ones.

How many HP computers have you owned and what was wrong with them?

 

[Trapezoid]

Don't say that in front of the dedicated Apple users, they think that anything outside Apple only last about 3 to 6 months.
Most of them now will hate B&O and HP it's just the way they are, anything that goes outside the Apple circle is rubbish.
They all loved Bose, when Apple dropped them they hated it, but now they love it again.

Wait, did this really happen?? Wow these Apple users sound like fools! Do you have any examples of someone who did this?? I would love a laugh at their expense

 

[k1121j]

How many HP computers have you owned and what was wrong with them?

2 they had windows on them

 

[crsh1976]

I don't know if many Apple fans have bothered taking a look at the latest HP laptops from the last ~6 months, but they are certainly making an effort.

The latest Spectre x360 in all aluminum and super thin, sure it's a clear reminder of all Apple products from the last decade+, but it's good to see some PC makers are finally "getting" it and moving in a better direction. And hardware-wise, those laptops, the specs are better, the screens are better than MBAs, the price is better (without being dirt cheap), etc.

I wish they had thrown in B+O audio in there, too.. it would have been even better.

 

[69Mustang]

Seems the purchase is just sitting on the shelf for me, if I'm being really honest. I guess I was expecting something exciting or innovative to result from it .

I'll be honest, I once bought beats and had buyers remorse , so yes, I'll be honest and admit my comment did have some bias.

Maybe Apple is making its money back from it , none of us know.

This is the thing I see from a lot of people: I haven't seen anything yet from this deal. What were you expecting to happen in less than a year? I guess because I've worked at both acquiring and acquired companies I have a different perspective. Rarely does a less than 1 year old acquisition yield any public results. Honestly they're probably still sorting through the minutiae to see where short, medium, and long term objectives can be met.

I've never owned Beats. I'm a Senn fan. I've heard their latest offerings have been well received by consumers and reviewers like Head-Fi.org That's neither here nor there, but acquisitions take time to show worth.

 

[unplugme71]

It's really a shame. B&O would have been a perfect pairing with Apple.

Beats sucks at everything except making money.

And as a person who acquired this company, how is it a bad thing

----------

Rubbish. As you always do , you twisted the arguement to suit your conclusion , geez!

You have no proof parents are spending $500 on iPads for 4 year olds, in which case it's the parents iPad, not relevant to the point raised. A 4 year old does not have any income ...

A 12-15 year old kid cannot save up money and buy a beats headset that costs less than $300? The guy you replied to was right, some can... Here is a thought, not everyone comes from a privileged area where parents buy them expansive items. SHOCK!!!

You sir are judge , jury and executioner when it comes to replies. You judge what is right , you twist the reply to suit that and you inform the other party of the verdict.

Read what is written by people! Not what you and to see, to suit your conclusion !! People will respect your opinions a lot more if you allows other to have.... An opinion ?

So a child helping out and making money is not considered income because he/she is not on payroll?

I know a lot of kids who worked to make money. Sure it was small jobs but they earned it. And I'm not talking chores from parents or allowance money. I'm talking about shoveling neighbors driveways of snow or helping carry grocery bags.

I get some people work hard and are unfortunate to afford things. I feel bad for them. But I don't feel bad for those begging for money and not trying to earn it like the rest of us. I offered two guys money to help with yard work. Easy grunt stuff. $15/hr and a free meal and was turned down. They rather beg on a street corner.

 

[kyjaotkb]

Ugly laptop, but B+O over beats any day...looks like HP is the winner here!

pot calling kettle black...

B&O pioneered in the domain of selling design first / quality as an afterthought "high end" audio to rich people attracted by the looks. And integrating their logo on a crappy plastic laptop with tiny speakers and a $0.10 integrated audio chip won't do anything to change that. Am glad Apple moved beats away from the co-branding marketing gimmick... gives the headphones maker some hope

----------

Bowers & Wilkins > B&O >> Beats or Bose

Given that it's true of both sound quality and build quality, it's too bad Apple couldn't work out something with them.

in all honestly

Sony, Sennheiser, Grado >>> Bower & Wilkins > B&O >>Bose >>>>>>>> Beats

even any $30 Koss > Beats, anytime

----------

a step up/

No, it's a mere sticker on the plastic topcase.

 

[MasterRyu2011]

This is probably a good thing for HP. I bought a high-end gaming HP laptop with Beats several years ago, and there was nothing special about the sound. Back when Beats was Beats, an HP with a Beats logo was a laughing stock of people in-the-know