HTC sells half of its shares in Beats Audio

[Whubblesbuddy]

News broke today that HTC has sold half of its shares in Beats Audio. HTC had owned 50% of the stock of Beats Audio. The buyer of the stock was Beats Audio themselves. That leaves HTC with 25% of Beats' stock, and Beats Audio with 75% of its stock.

Story here: HTC sells controlling Beats Audio stake as smartphones stumble - SlashGear

While I don't speculate, or at least don't like to, the news from HTC lately (>50% drop in revenue, reassessing upgrade schedule, removing Desire HD from upgrade to ICS, now selling half of their Beats stock) has me a little worried.

Please don't kill me for this, but I really do love my Rezound as is. It is flawless and beautiful. I have had it since February and have found no bugs at all. So I might be disappointed if they cancel our upgrade, but not angry. And, actually, I have been concerned that an upgrade to ICS would bring some bugs until the first maintenance/bug fix update rolls out

 

[NoYankees44]

Meh they should have never stuck their hand in that pot if you ask me. It's cool that the phones have it I guess, but if they though it was going to be a selling point then they are stupid.

Sent from my ADR6425LVW

 

[DestinedtoGame]

Meh they should have never stuck their hand in that pot if you ask me. It's cool that the phones have it I guess, but if they though it was going to be a selling point then they are stupid.

Sent from my ADR6425LVW

I fully agree with you. In the audiphile world, we know better than to go with Beats. They are great for bass and are really just a gimmick. There isn't anything really all that special. Now, if Android got together with Bose or Sennheiser, now that would be an amazing phone.

 

[Dovahkiin]

I liked Beats on the Rezound. I enjoyed the bass boost and felt that the overall sound was better. The earbud inclusion was an added bonus, and I found them very comfortable.
That said, I realize it's a marketing gimmick. I understand HTC was trying to set themselves apart from everyone else, and we do need that in the Android world, but 300+ million was a bit too much of an investment.

 

[Whubblesbuddy]

That said, I realize it's a marketing gimmick. I understand HTC was trying to set themselves apart from everyone else, and we do need that in the Android world, but 300+ million was a bit too much of an investment.

I think you are correct there. The stories linked above state that HTC will still have exclusivity with Beats technology in Smartphones. One story, that I did not link, said that HTC has found that having the Beats technology in a phone is something that can drive a purchase decision, but not the actual hardware. People tend to overlook the included headsets and are not driven to a purchase decision by getting them in the box. If they want them, they will go and buy their own.

 

[anon(94115)]

Meh they should have never stuck their hand in that pot if you ask me. It's cool that the phones have it I guess, but if they though it was going to be a selling point then they are stupid.

Sent from my ADR6425LVW

Totally agree with you. Why spend 300 million or whatever on it when dsp manager is there?

Sent from my ADR6425LVW using Tapatalk 2

 

[majorpayne]

becuase what you all dont realize is that the beats software does one more thing besides boosting bass.. it takes a 16 bit signal are reverts it to a 24 bit signal as the master was in the recording studio.

 

[twolastnames]

I fully agree with you. In the audiphile world, we know better than to go with Beats. They are great for bass and are really just a gimmick. There isn't anything really all that special. Now, if Android got together with Bose or Sennheiser, now that would be an amazing phone.

Sorry to bust balls, but Bose is just as much a gimmick as Beats. I got a Bose system in my Caddy, and to say it sucks is an understatement. At least with Beats, I got a way nicer set of headphones than I'd be willing to purchase myself, and they sound fine enough. But it is a bit of a quandary when you sell a set of $100 headphones and at some point that phone is gonna be free.

 

[DestinedtoGame]

Sorry to bust balls, but Bose is just as much a gimmick as Beats. I got a Bose system in my Caddy, and to say it sucks is an understatement. At least with Beats, I got a way nicer set of headphones than I'd be willing to purchase myself, and they sound fine enough. But it is a bit of a quandary when you sell a set of $100 headphones and at some point that phone is gonna be free.

I had Beats earbuds and Bose earbuds and I can hear a clear difference in the two. Bose was far better. I haven't tested Bose in other sound settings, I am not a big person on car steroes. So, I don't have much to say there.

 

[Egnix]

I fully agree with you. In the audiphile world, we know better than to go with Beats. They are great for bass and are really just a gimmick. There isn't anything really all that special. Now, if Android got together with Bose or Sennheiser, now that would be an amazing phone.

Sorry to bust balls, but Bose is just as much a gimmick as Beats. I got a Bose system in my Caddy, and to say it sucks is an understatement. At least with Beats, I got a way nicer set of headphones than I'd be willing to purchase myself, and they sound fine enough. But it is a bit of a quandary when you sell a set of $100 headphones and at some point that phone is gonna be free.

As twolastnames said, Bose and audiophile don't mix. Bose might be better than Beats, but that's isn't saying much. Bose is definitely not an audiophile-caliber brand. Bose's real slogan should be: "Better Sound Through Advertizing".

Check out Head-Fi for some real audiophile headphones.