Beats headphones are crap, sure. And their streaming service isn't as mature as Spotify. But three billion dollars isn't about headphones or online music streaming or Dr Dre's drunken celebration. It's about growth.
Apple has a chokehold on the iPod market. They've rocked the market with the iPod, iPhone, iPad and those products will be cash cows for a long time. But where is their next growth going to come from? A watch? I doubt it.
All the granola 16-year-old white girls already have their iPhone. There's no room for crazy growth among middle class white people. Apple needs to use it's expertise to pursue new markets, which is exactly what they're doing.
Tim Cook isn't afraid, he's strategic. Beats by Dre is a high-end consumer lifestyle brand that GREATLY appeals to black, hispanic, urban-context, young men and women. They sell expensive products. They care about design. They represent a way of living. They're Apple in another market.
Beats is about to be Apple's international foray into a completely new growth segment. And it's genius.
Comments
Beats headphones are crap, sure. And their streaming service isn't as mature as Spotify. But three billion dollars isn't about headphones or online music streaming or Dr Dre's drunken celebration. It's about growth.
Apple has a chokehold on the iPod market. They've rocked the market with the iPod, iPhone, iPad and those products will be cash cows for a long time. But where is their next growth going to come from? A watch? I doubt it.
All the granola 16-year-old white girls already have their iPhone. There's no room for crazy growth among middle class white people. Apple needs to use it's expertise to pursue new markets, which is exactly what they're doing.
Tim Cook isn't afraid, he's strategic. Beats by Dre is a high-end consumer lifestyle brand that GREATLY appeals to black, hispanic, urban-context, young men and women. They sell expensive products. They care about design. They represent a way of living. They're Apple in another market.
Beats is about to be Apple's international foray into a completely new growth segment. And it's genius.