HTC turns down the music, gives back half of Beats Audio shares

By Cory Gunther
on 23 Jul, 2012

HTC has turned down the music in what appears to be a scale back of their plans with the music company Beats Audio. I’d be lying if I said I was surprised, as I wasn’t too sold on the idea to begin with. In what HTC is calling “a realignment of their business agreement” they’ve sold 25% of their 51% stake back to Beats, and now is no longer the majority stockholder.

Just under a year ago last August HTC purchased half of Beats Audio for a whopping $300 million dollars. While their new smartphones are doing rather well, their Q2 earnings report wasn’t as great as expected. In less than a year HTC has decided to change their route and will only own 25% moving forward. Both companies however have stated they still intend to work together.

We knew this was coming when back in April reports confirmed HTC was planning to reduce or not even include Beats in upcoming phones — although that was later denied by their CEO. With HTC still owning 25% they’ve agreed to own exclusive rights to the technology. This means no other smartphone manufacturers can include Beats Audio in their devices.

It will be interesting to see how they continue with Beats Audio, or audio in their smartphones in general. We’ll be sure to keep our ears listening for more busted beats.

[via SlashGear]

http://www.djcube.co.uk Cube1701

I think the Beats fad is nearly finished, which is why half the shares are going back.

I could never really tell the difference in the software version of Beats (never used the Beats headphones, but people say that cheaper ones are better as most of the cost is the name). Not to mention it was limited to the default music player, making it completely useless for me.