post Tuesday May 13, 2014
Apple is negotiating with Beats about an acquisition of $3.2 billion and if Beats agrees, it will be a big step forward for Apple. Devoted followers of the American company claim that the only real Apple products are the ones Apple makes itself, but this acquisition could turn out to be a wise call for help, because Apple is struggling to introduce something radically new.
Since the death of former CEO Steve Jobs, Apple has been struggling to maintain its position of leading innovator of gadgets in the world. Steve Jobs ruled firmly and relentless over his company and under his command Apple had breakthrough after breakthrough. At that time, Apple was famous for its innovation and radicalism. Now, with the acquisition of Beats Apple is trying to regain that same reputation.
The connection between Beats and Apple is very obvious. The most popular product of Apple is the iPhone and you can easily plug the headphones of Beats into the phone. Besides the functional side of the acquisition, there is also a different perspective to it. Beats took its brand to a whole other level. Because of very good marketing and design people wanted to buy Beats headphones, even though the quality of the audio was not outstanding. Beats made headphones popular and, more importantly, cool again.
Apple purchased Beats for its reputation and brand in order to become cool again itself. The company is dealing with a decline of sales and the announcement of an official smartwatch has taken so long that it became boring. By means of the acquisition, Apple pulls in the creative people behind Beats . $3 billion is a small piece of Apple’s total cash reserve.With this acquisition Apple hopes to satisfy their customers and shareholders, who are waiting for the innovation they expect from Apple.
Last but not least, the purchase of Beats will grant Apple access to the streaming music app of Beats. Their app is one of the best on the market and Apple could use a boost in that category since ITunes is not as loved as for example Spotify.
Apple has been one of the greatest innovators in the world for the last decade. Steve Jobs changed the way people listened to music with the iPhone and iTunes. Before 2003, there was no such thing as a digital music library. All these innovations and technology were largely created by Apple. But these changes are becoming the standard now and the markets created by Apple itself are the norm. That is why the acquisition of Beats was a smart thing to do. In 2014, Apple has to innovate itself in order to compete with the standard they created themselves. With Beats in its ranks the company has certainly made a big step towards its new future.
Image courtesy of David Castillo / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
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