If you’ve bought an HTC device in the last couple of years, there’s a very good chance that it has the above branding on it. HTC and Beats went into a partnership around two years ago now. Producing devices such as the Sensation XE and the Rezound. As well, supposedly delivering “superior” audio quality, the partnership added software features over the years as well. Things went downhill rather quickly however, as HTC soon stopped including Beats earphones with their devices, going back to more standard fare. Now, Beats is undergoing something of a global expansion and the two parties have agreed to part ways.
HTC today announced that Beats Electronics will be buying HTC’s remaining share in the company for a cool $265 Million. While HTC says that the company will partner with Beats again if the opportunity arises, it’s pretty unlikely that we’ll see something on this scale again. The partnership never amounted to much in the first place and we’re pretty sure that those who purchase HTC smartphones – like myself – aren’t too interested in Beats Audio. Or at least, it’s far from their main reason for purchasing the phone that they did.
The lump sum could be of use to HTC, which isn’t exactly doing great right now but, HTC didn’t elaborate on their reasons for selling. Whether or not they felt they needed the money, or that the partnership wasn’t mutually beneficial is unclear. Will we see HTC smartphones with Beats branding in the future? We’re going to call that pretty unlikely, aside from devices that are already in the pipeline such as the much-rumored HTC One Max. Going forward, we can’t imagine HTC looking to pay Beats for the privilege of using their name in the future. What do you think? Is something like this really going to make a difference? Did the partnership ever help HTC? Let us know in the comments below.
The post HTC and Beats Say Goodbye; Part Ways Over $265 Million appeared first onAndroidHeadlines.com |.
Comments