Apple finally announced it has acquired headphone maker Beats Electronic for $3 billion
Apple is officially buying Beats Electronics for $3 billion—shelling out $2.6 billion in cash and $400 million in equity for the music-streaming service and iconic headphones. Apple will continue to use the Beats brand and bring co-founders Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine aboard at the company’s electronics and music-streaming divisions.
CEO Tim Cook said -
“Music is such an important part of all of our lives and holds a special place within our hearts at Apple, 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.”
The $3 billion purchase price includes Beats Music, the sister company that runs a subscription streaming music service. In fact, Apple’s press release mentioned that before the more well-known headphone business. While some analysts have wondered why Apple doesn’t simply build its own streaming service within iTunes, Cook must believe this deal gives him a quicker way to catch up with Spotify and others.
