Apple Confirms Purchase of Beats

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After much speculation, Apple’s purchase of Beats Electronics and Beats Music at USD 3 Billion is confirmed. Beats founders will join Apple and the Beats brand will be retained after the acquisition.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Apple will be purchasing both Beats Electronics and Beats Music with USD 2.6 billion in cash and USD 400 million in equity. It has been reported that Beats co-founder Dr Dre and Jimmy Iovine will be joining Apple.

“Music is such an important part of all of our lives and holds a special place within our hearts at Apple,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “That’s why we have kept investing in music and are bringing together these extraordinary teams so we can continue to create the most innovative music products and services in the world.”

“I’ve always known in my heart that Beats belonged with Apple,” said Jimmy Iovine. “The idea when we started the company was inspired by Apple’s unmatched ability to marry culture and technology. Apple’s deep commitment to music fans, artists, songwriters and the music industry is something special.”

Apple has been an innovative giant for the past decade, producing well-recognised music devices such as the iPod and services like the iTunes. With Beats’ strong branding, Apple could claim a bigger stake in the music and headsets industry in the next couple of years. Working with Beats’ premium consumer headphones, earphones, and speakers as well as patented Beats Audio software technology and streaming music subscription service Beats Music, Apple will increase its market outreach in both music and mobile electronics.