Amidst all these reports and rumours suggesting Apple will soon take over Dr. Dre’s Beats, the widely popular headphones and online music company, an interesting article by Re/Code’s Walt Mossberg sheds light on the many reasons why Apple might be thinking about making such an acquisition. “I guess that’s my gut reaction as to why they might be doing this”, says the author.
“If it’s true, I think that there could be a number of reasons for it. One was they just felt that it was the quickest way for them to get into streaming. Another is that Beats makes premium products in an area where Apple doesn’t make premium products. They are a premium-product company, but those are obvious.
The less obvious things are injecting creative talent into the company, if it is indeed true, as it’s been rumored, that [Beats’] Jimmy [Iovine] and Ian [Rogers] are coming over. I know Jimmy and Ian pretty well, and I think the more creative talent they can get in there — given their history and what people look to them for — they’ll be not only in music but in other areas like television and video.”
Mossberg says that he does not know about Tim Cook’s judgment about the people Apple has with them now. He does however know that “the people they have there now are the people who were with Jobs”, when he did the various creative things, including iTunes. By going to Dr. Dre, they went to “somebody who knows a lot about fashion and style”, he says, adding that the company is going through a reset, caused by “somebody dying who was an extraordinary figure”.
So far, it is only unofficial news that Apple is closing in on its largest ever acquisition with the planned $3.2 billion purchase of Beats Electronics, which was founded by music producer Jimmy Iovine and the hip-hop star Dr Dre.
