Remember the Last Time Beats Sold Itself to a Phone Maker? | Re/code: Back in August 2011, Taiwan’s HTC paid $300 million to acquire a majority stake in Beats.
“With the magic of mobile devices, it is easier than ever to discover and buy new music,” HTC CEO Peter Chou said in an interview at the time. “However, without great sound experience, it is a shame.”
Beats CEO Jimmy Iovine, meanwhile, made the case that digital products had become the main vehicles for listening to music, yet sound quality had waned.
“We went to digital and got worse,” he said at the time of the HTC deal. “That’s unacceptable. What has to happen is anyone who makes consumer electronics that transmit music has to be encouraged — to put it mildly — to have great audio.”
“With the magic of mobile devices, it is easier than ever to discover and buy new music,” HTC CEO Peter Chou said in an interview at the time. “However, without great sound experience, it is a shame.”
Beats CEO Jimmy Iovine, meanwhile, made the case that digital products had become the main vehicles for listening to music, yet sound quality had waned.
“We went to digital and got worse,” he said at the time of the HTC deal. “That’s unacceptable. What has to happen is anyone who makes consumer electronics that transmit music has to be encouraged — to put it mildly — to have great audio.”