Today is a sad day for me since I learned Beats by Dre & HTC are parting ways đ
A few years back HTC bought 50.1% shares in Beats Electronics, effectively giving them full control of the Beats Audio and Beats by Dre brand. Apparently, due to poor sales figures and other mumbo jumbo the partnership between HTC and Beats has not worked as well as either party had planned.
HTC integrated Beats Audio speakers in to many of their mobile handsets, including mine – the HTC One. I love my HTC One, and the dual Beats speakers produce sound that is nothing short of amazing considering the sheer size of the handset. I feel the One’s speaker setup is only the beginning for what could be great future development of mobile handset audio… but sadly it looks like it just wasn’t meant to be.
HTC have not completely ruled out working with Beats in the future though, saying they will “continue to partner [with Beats] as future opportunities arise” but my guess is those ‘opportunities’ will never arise…
What’s more, there are rumours that HTC’s latest financials are far worse than expected and the HTC chairwoman Cher Wang is looking to sell the company. This is a very sad day indeed. Over the last 4 years I’ve had 4 HTC handsets, 1 Samsung and 1 iPhone; needless to say I am unimpressed with the ‘leading competition’ and should HTC sell out to either, I’d probably cry.
HTC and Cher Wang – pull yourselves together! You have a strong brand and you’re only just breaking the barrier to producing amazing mobile handsets. The One is a work of art… but just think how far you could advance from it! Don’t sell, continue to innovate, and ensure your audio improves – with or without Beats.
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