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Last year, there was a report that Apple was planning to discontinue the Beats brand in favour of its own Apple-branded audio equipment. However, it was then speculated that this might not be the case, and that Apple and Beats audio devices will coexist.
For anyone concerned about the Beats brand’s future, it appears that it is here to stay. According to a fresh storey from 9to5Mac, it appears that Apple hired a certain Scott Croyle in 2020, who supervised Beats product design. Croyle formerly worked at HTC, where he assisted with the design of phones such as the HTC One M7 and M8, as well as the Nextbit Robin smartphone, which was eventually acquired by Razer.
Croyle’s employment is noteworthy due to his design expertise, as well as the fact that, as you may recall, HTC and Beats collaborated at one point. While we haven’t seen anything new with Croyle’s fingerprints on it yet, the storey states that the team has been studying numerous speakers and headphones from various companies, presumably to see what the competition is up to and how they can best them.
It’s been a long since we’ve seen a new major Beats product, so it’d be good to see something fresh, but no one knows when that will happen.
Many people have been curious about Apple’s plans for Beats. Apple bought the company a few years ago, and it didn’t take long for them to kill off Beats Music and incorporate it into what is now known as Apple Music. So, how about a pair of Beats headphones? Given the lack of new Beats headphones (apart from new colour possibilities), there has been suspicion that Apple is intending to discontinue it.
In fact, according to a recent tweet by Jon Prosser, Apple’s intention is to gradually phase out the name. However, according to a 9to5Mac storey, this is not the case. According to the report, the company’s executives argue that shutting off the Beats brand is just not an option.
According to 9to5Mac, Beats is part of Apple’s “Wearables” division, which has seen a lot of development and is expected to continue increasing. Given how popular Beats is among celebrities, such as singers and sportsmen, it wouldn’t make sense for Apple to discontinue it, essentially severing their existing and future endorsement opportunities.
However, as previously said, the Beats brand has been rather quiet, with the exception of one or two new products, leading to rumours that it may be phased out. It’s likely that Apple is working on new Beats headphones that they haven’t revealed yet, so if you’re a fan of the brand, you can rest confident that it’s not going away anytime soon.
Of course, Spotify continues to be the most popular music service, but Apple Music has fundamentally altered Apple’s position in the music industry. Beats is responsible for this.
So, is Beats one of Apple’s better acquisitions? It’s difficult to say. But, in terms of influence and what an acquisition has meant to Apple’s public-facing business, we can confidently conclude that there isn’t anything greater or more important.
