HTC Gives Up Its Beats; Sells Back Half of Its Ownership for $150 Million

[dgstorm]

HTC has been struggling from some missteps lately, not the least of which was their overly expensive acquisition of a 50.1 percent stake in Beats by Dre Audio. HTC hoped to define themselves from the rest of the smartphone pack by appealing to the audiophile in smartphone users. This marketing concept fell flat on its face, because the vast majority of users, simply didn't care about this with their smartphone. It's not that users didn't like the quality head-phone and audio technology. It simply wasn't the "killer app" that would draw people's interest away from competitors. Aesthetics and a wide range of added software functionality seems to be far more important to smartphone buyers. This is why Samsung and Apple have come to dominate the smartphone world.

It seems like HTC realized this at some point this year and has been taking great strides to try and rectify the situation. They released the amazing HTC One Series, which truly harkens back to the superior design quality and feature-set from when HTC was the king of the Android hill. Apparently, HTC is also getting other parts of their house in order as well. They recently announced that they are selling back half of their stake in Beats by Dre Audio for $150 Million dollars. HTC will still be the largest outside shareholder of Beats by Dre, but they will no longer be a controlling interest.

This sale-back will actually be at a small loss (they originally purchased the 50.1% for $309 Million), but it will give them some much needed operating capitol to help get them back in the game. It will allow them to gracefully focus on what matters, while distancing themselves from their costly mistake, although they will still maintain the Beats by Dre logo exclusivity.

Source: AndroidAuthority

 

[TheOldFart]

Beats and audiophile cannot really be used in the same sentence. Paying extra for something that most users didn't want was not a smart move for them in the first place.

 

[Crankintopwater69]

oooh,Im sorry,but could you buy back this CRAP!!!!!!!!!!

 

[bacK_N_87]

Clearly a dumb move and I'm a huge supporter of Dr. Dre but those headphones are not good. The ear buds are decent but not at that price. Definition of gimmick and definitely should be in the same sentence as audiophile.

 

[Inverse]

Audiophiles don't run with Beats audio. It was a horrible, horrible deal going in. It would actually scare away proper audiophiles from the product (I know it made me even LESS interested in the phone). They might as well have put BOSE or some other big box name on their phone to fool the public. Issue is, people who buy Beats don't give a crap about quality sound. They care about what it looks like on their head. They care about the status of the name. They want to show off their purchase. The audio is ok~ if it's bassy, great, but good sound? A secondary element to the Beats purchaser to look and status. Quality workmanship doesn't matter, since Beats headphones like the studio pro break all the damn time. They come apart at the seams after a few months.

I feel bad for HTC, but I don't know how they can release phones with poor battery life every single time, no SD Support and unremovable batteries and expect to beat Samsung to the punch. I don't know how any brand can do this. Motorola recently joined this trend, and the Droids have been getting their asses whupped by the Galaxy series.

I just don't get it. Why? Why make their phones even more limited than predecessors? Apple can get away with screwing over their customers on features, they've earned their drooling fanbase~ Android is typically a power-user and enthusiast base. They want a good camera, the ability to dev on their phone and the flexibility of an SD slot and batteries for field work away from power. This has been proven with the Galaxy line, so I don't know why brands keep moving away from what obviously sells.

 

[bacK_N_87]

I meant shouldn't be.