When people think about their smartphone, they might not even realize how bad, or good, the audio is. Most smartphones have music and video playback where the audio might be an important asset and HTC is banking that you are thinking that, too. HTC has put some money where they think it will benefit smartphone users in the audio department. The company invested in a headphones company in the United States, one that is affiliated with rapper Dr. Dre. The plan is hoping to improve the performance the audio for the HTC product line.
The handset maker said that the partnership will bring “sound innovations” to the new handsets that are scheduled to be released this fall. The partnership which was announced on Thursday, will give HTC exclusive rights to any products that Beats releases. Beats Electronics develops high end headphones which the company claims will be able to product sounds similar to that in a professional studio. The company is also known for making the sound system for ENVY laptops that HP makes. HTC announced they have invested over $300 million which gives them a majority stake in Beats.
Beats Electronics has other partnerships that include HP, Monster Cable Products and the Chrysler Group. Even though HTC has the majority stake in the company, they said it Beats will still operate normally and maintain all the current partnerships. The CEO of HTC, Peter Chou, said that the technology used in the headphones isn’t the only hardware they have on tap, and he said the companies will “work very closely together to make deep integration of Beats technology, software and hardware and the authentic user experience of HTC mobile phones.” Chou also went on to say that HTC will learn a lot from Beats, learn about music, “the Hollywood industry” and do marketing.
In a very tough mobile industry, any little ways that you can separate your handsets from those of competitors will be a plus. Chou has been compared to Steve Jobs at Apple, as to when an idea comes into his mind the company has no problem following through with it. Experts say that HTC will benefit from the partnership, create a gap in the competition, learn about music and mass marketing, as well as create products that todays consumer is looking to buy.
