Beats update...

In my last post I talked about why I think Apple is acquiring Beats- because Apple's current headphones are throwaway junk. 

As it turns out, Tim Cook says that Apple acquired Beats mostly for the streaming music service. They plan to keep the Beats brand alive and continue with the headphone business.  They also plan to keep iTunes Radio going alongside Beats streaming music service. I'm not sure what advantage they gain by having 2 different music streaming services, especially if they believe the new one they just bought is so much better.  Nevermind that the new service has only 250000 active users. 

Apple should have success marketing and driving up subscribers for Beats. If that happens I think it will be at the expense of iTunes Radio subscribers and listeners. 

Anyway, Tim Cook didn't say much about my headphones prediction. However it does sound like Jimmy Iovine agrees with me when he said smartphone makers include the earbuds to "make sure the sound works". Ouch.  Time will tell if Apple's existing headphone line gets a massive revamp in the upcoming Apple/Beats era.