Apple to buy Beats Electronics for US$3.2 Billion - Interaxion Mind Reading Device as when Mind Audio Hits, You Feel No Pain

It’s not yet official until Apple confirm it, but it’s the talk of the town and the still shocked Apple Fanboy crowd in Jamaica!

I’m of course talking about Apple’s alledged purchase of Beats Electronics, co-owned by Music Industry Veterans Jimmy Iovine and Rapper Andre Romelle Young aka Dr. Dre for US$3.2 billion as reported in “'First Billionaire in hip hop' Dre boasts of Apple-Beat deal on Facebook”, published May 9, 2014 4:04 AM PDT by Luke Westaway, CNET News and “APPLE TO THROW DOWN $3.2 BILLION FOR BEATS ELECTRONICS (UPDATE: DR. DRE BRAGS ON VIDEO)”, published May 9, 2014 By Ryan Waniata, Digitaltrends.

Not sure how true this is, but you can listen to the ranting of the Producer known by his nom de plume Dr. Dre and his music producer compadre, Tyrese Gibson as they talk %&*@# about their deal. As the report confirms, he may technically be Hip-Hop’s first Billionaire, by default….so move over Beyonce and Jay-Z!

These reports, all based on mumbling from Reuters as chronicled in “Apple close to buying Beats for $3.2 billion: source”, published Friday May 9, 2014 7:47pm EDT by NADIA DAMOUNI, CHRISTINA FARR AND NICOLA LESKE, Reuters, are what make this story credible enough even to put pen to paper.

Apple splurges on Beats Electronics – Sets Record for the Most spent to acquire a company

The article “Apple in talks for $3.2bn Beats deal”, published May 8, 2014 10:45 pm By Matthew Garrahan in Los Angeles and Tim Bradshaw, Financial Times details all of their acquisitions thus far. Based on their stats, it would appear that Beats by far is the most Apple has ever paid for ANY company.

Even if you go back as far as their acquisition of NeXT Computing from them ouster and returned Apple CEO Steve Jobs as chronicled in my Geezam blog article entitled “Steve Jobs Resigns as Apple CEO – Fourteen years of Innovation with an “I””.

So for Apple, albeit not as eye popping as Facebook’s acquisition of WhatsApp for US$19 billion earlier in February 2014 as stated in my blog article entitled “Facebook acquires WhatsApp for US$19 Billion - CEO Jan Koum Revelry will fade once faced with BBM and Google+, Guardians of the Galaxy of Mobile Social Networks”, it is a very BIG deal for them, given their frugality in spending on acquiring Technology from other companies.

The price sounds about right, as in September 2013 a VC (Venture Capital) company pumped US$500 into Beats Electronics, placing its value on Music Industry Veterans Jimmy Iovine and Rapper Andre Romelle Young aka Dr. Dre co-owned Beats Electronics in the US$1 billion range. This despite previous run in with Taiwanese company HTC, which I’ll of course share below.

HTC bought half of the company for approximately US$309 million, in August 2011, only to withdraw in July 2012 von reports of weak profitability from their investment in Beats Electronics as told in “Is Apple's Beats buy just a Remix of HTC's mistake?” published May 8, 2014 5:08 PM PDT by Roger Cheng, CNET News.

Apple and Beats by Dr. Dre – Resurrecting Apple iTunes Radio and Apple Earbuds

Don’t get me wrong here. Beats Electronics, despite the high-brow Experts on Wall Street, is indeed worth US$3.2 billion as stated in “Beats By Dr. Dre is Worth $3.2 Billion, Especially To Apple”, published  5/16/2014 10:17AM by Hugh McIntyre, Forbes.

That value isn’t based on what the company has that Apple doesn’t, as their customer bases overlap as noted in “Why Apple does wants Beats? no one really seems to know”, published May 10, 2014 4:00 AM PDT by Shara Tibken and Joan E. Solsman, CNET News.

Rather, it’s based on the Brand Value of Beats Electronics and their high-end products and Music Streaming Platform, Beats Audio, which has the potential to be great. You can’t place a value on Trendy high-fashion and popular, something the geeky Tech obsessed HTC didn’t grasp as stated in “Apple and Beats Audio: Eclectic, artistic, iconic”, published May 14, 2014 -- 10:55 GMT (03:55 PDT) By James Kendrick, ZDNet.

Right now, at this point in time, Beats Electronics products have that je na sais quoi quality that speaks to the customer and makes them open up their wallet, as they know that Beats by Dr. Dre, like Apple products, are worth the cash. Apple valuation is thus sport on; HTC and other have merely undervalued the company, focusing on the physical and not on the Brand Value of the company and its ability to gain traction with Apple customer who has a similar mindset.

I love Beats Electronics, especially their pricey US$449 high-end Beats by Dr. Dre Headphones and US$99 Beats by Dr. Dre. Earbuds and I know that they’ve had quite a healthy relationship with Apple as noted in “Apple said to be in talks to buy Beats Electronics for $3.2B” ,published  May 8, 2014 3:05 PM PDT by Nick Statt, CNET News.

Their most popular headphones, the Beats By Dr. Dre Headphones, have been carried in Apple Stores for quite awhile as an option to Apple’s own Earbuds as described in my Geezam blog article entitled “Apple patents Wireless Bluetooth Earbuds as Wireless Bluetooth Speakers take Flight”.

Clearly Apple may have purchased Beats Electronics as they’re fretting about their recent decline in Download sales of Music from their Apple iTunes Store, based on a report by the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) as condensed in my Geezam blog article entitled “Apple iOS 8 may free Apple iTunes Radio on Google Play Store”.

So acquiring Beats Electronics would allow them to get their mittens on Beats Audio and their 200,000 member strong and rapidly expanding Streaming audience, with a 70% conversion ratio of Free Subscribers to Paid Subscribers as described in “Beats Music turns 7 out of 10 free-trial users to paying ones?”, published March 20, 2014 11:22 AM PDT by Joan E. Solsman, CNET News.

Their secret sauce? Their music collection is curated by hand, most likely by Dr. Dre Himself, who’s an expert at picking hits, being the mastermind behind the careers of such Rap artiste such as:

1.      Snoop Dogg

2.      Eminem

3.      Xzibit

4.      50 Cent

5.      The Game

6.      Kendrick Lamar

In case you forgot about who Rapper and Producer Andre Romelle Young aka Dr. Dre is, here’s what in the East Coast of the United States of America is referred to as a Tribute song entitled Dr. Dre - Forgot About Dre ft. Eminem.

All this in a bid to return to profitability in a world now trending towards Streaming start-ups such as Spotify, Pandora and the Big Bosses already in the ring, Amazon Cloud Drive and apparently Samsung Milk as described in my Geezam blog article entitled “Don’t cry over spilt Samsung Milk as Samsung Galaxy S5 and smartwatches disappoint”.

It would also bring a newfound dearth of Technological know-how as it relates to designing great looking Headphones, as their brand, despite being very pricey, Beats by Dr. Dre Headphones are also very popular. Apple iPod line of products, once paired with Beats by Dr. Dre, could see a new life being breathed into their Apple iPad, Apple iPod and Apple iPhone.

This by integrating their Design aesthetic and leveraging their great sounding audio with their human curated Music Streaming Collection, which would be used to replace Apple iTunes Radio completely with a joint name and an expanded Song Library from Apple.

Apple, Beats and Interaxion – Beyond Audio as when Music Hits, You Feel No Pain

The Beats by Dr. Dre can be rebranded to be Apple products, albeit in the long term, there’s little value in acquiring Electronics products, no matter how popular they are. Trends in Electronics shift rapidly; by 2020, they re may be no need for Headphones.

We experience the world through our six (6) senses:

1.      Touch

2.      Hearing

3.      Smell

4.      Taste

5.      Seeing

6.      ESP (Extra Sensory Perception)

With electronics in the future now based more on EEG (Electro-Encephalograph), you may merely need to wear a Mind Control Headset such as the US$199 Muse Mind Controller as detailed in my blog article entitled “IndieGogo funded Interaxion debut US$199 Muse Mind Controller at Le Web in France - Future Silver Lining Playbook for Gaming that'll Exercise the Windmills of Your Mind” and have the Media played directly you’re your Consciousness, bypassing the senses.

Even more interesting is for this experience be even in you unconscious state via Lucid Dreaming. This is now possible thanks to the recent discovery that a 40 Hz low voltage current induces Gamma Brain Waves and thus Lucid Dreaming as described in my blog article entitled “Frankfurt University's Dr Ursula Voss Electric Shocks Lucid Dreaming - How Gamma Waves lead to Conscious Dreaming Inception in Katy Perry Wide Awake Matrix”.

Such Developments need to be studied carefully by Apple, as they threaten to make Devices that depend on the Senses obsolete in the future. Thus Apple’s current problems with hardware and their declining marketshare for the Apple iPhone is a problem which ironically Samsung is also experiencing as noted in my blog article entitled “Strategy Analytics Stats indicate Apple and Samsung both losing smartphone Market - Social Media, News and Wearable Computing Perfect Storm for smartphone Extinction in the Year of the Sheep”.

Thus Apple’s current push to add Sapphire to increase the after-sale value of Apple iPhones will work to boost sales as stated in my blog article entitled “Apple and GT Advanced Crystal Technologies building Sapphire Plant in Arizona – Arizona people working to coat Apple iPhone in Unbreakable Sapphire with possible Jamaican Bauxite Industry Revival coming”, but is merely prolonging the life of a product that is already dying.

Apple purchase of Beats Electronics will save Apple iTunes, naturally. But with the five year cycle for Apple iPhone having ended back in 2012 and Apple seeing smartphones sales take a steady nosedive, Wearables has to be Apple’s focus going forward.  

Especially as Google Glass, Samsung Galaxy Glass and Facebook with Oculus Rift are ramping up for a smartglasses paired with smartwatch product in 2015 as explained in my blog article entitled “Google Glass launched early as a Product - Google pre-empting Samsung Galaxy Glass and Facebook's Oculus Rift replacing the smartphone in 2015 the Year of the Sheep”.

Apple needs to do the same.

Apple needs to plunge into the Wearables Market as quickly as possible with a Smartglasses product that looks like a regular pair of glasses that connects to an Apple iWatch to act as an AR (Augmented Reality) and VR (Virtual Reality) headset as I’d predicted in my Geezam blog article entitled “Apple to debut Apple iWatch in March 2013 - iWant one and iCant Wait”. There should be an option to synch via Bluetooth or Wi-Fi Direct to their Apple iPhone, if the customer isn’t ready to take the Wearable plunge.

Finally, to distinguish themselves from the other competitors, Apple need to acquire the technology of Interaxion and their US$199 Muse Mind Controller Product. Merge the high quality sound of Beats Electronics Beats By Dr. Dre with Interaxion’s Muse Mind Controller Product would allow Apple to introduce a product that can transfer Media in a direct sensory experience within the mind. 

In essence, literally putting Music in your Mind, expanding the Conscious Sensory perception of the Musical Experience! This should be Apple’s long-term goal for Beats Electronics, as the Technology; Beyond Audio as when Music Hits, You Feel No Pain, Bob Marley Style.