Revision 112447446 of "Benutzer:CanLuca/Beats Electronics" on dewiki

{{Infobox company

| company_name     = Beats
| company_logo     = [[File:Beats Electronics logo.svg|150px|Beats Logo Since 2006]]
| vector_logo      =
| slogan           = "People aren't hearing all the music"
| company_type     = [[Consumer electronics]]
| foundation       = 2006
| location         = Santa Monica, California
| origins          =
| key_people       = [[Dr. Dre]], [[Jimmy Iovine]]
| area_served      = Global
| industry         = [[Sound recording and reproduction|Audio]]
| Shareholders     = [[Dr. Dre]], [[Jimmy Iovine]], [[HTC Corporation]]
| products         = [[Headphones]]<br/>[[Audio equipment]] and accessories
| revenue          =
| operating_income = 
| owner            = [[HTC]], Dr. Dre, Jimmy Iovine, [[Universal Music Group]]
| net_income       = $59,385,294 (2011)
| num_employees    = 3500
| parent           = 
| subsid           =
| homepage         = [http://www.beatsbydre.com/ beatsbydre.com]
}}

'''Beats Electronics, LLC''' is a producer of [[Sound recording and reproduction|audio]] products and [[Audio equipment|equipment]] headquartered in Santa Monica, California. The company was founded by [[hip-hop music|hip-hop/rap]] artist and [[entrepreneur]] [[Dr. Dre|Andre "Dr. Dre" Young]] and [[Interscope-Geffen-A&M]] Records chairman [[Jimmy Iovine]], and primarily produces products under the brand ''Beats by Dr. Dre''.

Since its inception, its products have been primarily manufactured and developed in collaboration with [[consumer electronics]] company [[Monster Cable Products|Monster Cable]]. The collaboration has led to financial success for both companies{{emdash}}Beats headphones accounted for 53% of the monetary value of the headphones market in the year 2011, and has also led to competition from other headphone brands seeking to emulate the success of Beats by introducing lines with similar celebrity endorsements.<ref name="bw-beats"/>

The company is currently majority owned by [[HTC Corporation]]. Dr. Dre, Jimmy Iovine and [[Universal Music Group]] all own minority shares in Beats.<ref name=cnet-htc/>

==History==
The company was founded in 2006, and debuted its first product, ''Beats by Dr. Dre'' headphones, at the beginning of 2009. [[Monster Cable Products|Monster]] was granted exclusive rights under a 5 year-contract to manufacture and develop Beats-branded headphones. Monster's CEO Noel Lee insisted on producing headphones{{emdash}}instead of [[loudspeakers]] as its founders originally planned{{emdash}}feeling that "the new speaker is the headphone." With Monster handling production of the products, Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre were now free to handle promoting the new line. Beats would primarily rely on [[celebrity endorsement]]s, particularly by [[Popular music|popular musicians]], to help market the line to a youth-oriented demographic.<ref name="bw-beats">{{cite news |title=Beats Electronics Is Breaking Up with Monster |author=Cliff Edwards |url=http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/beats-electronics-is-breaking-up-with-monster-01122012.html?campaign_id=rss_null |newspaper=[[Business Week]] |date=January 12, 2012 |accessdate=13 January 2012}}</ref>

In August 2011, mobile phone manufacturer [[HTC]] acquired a 51% majority share in Beats for $300 million. The purchase also granted HTC exclusive rights to manufacture smartphones with Beats-branded audio systems.<ref name=cnet-htc>{{cite web|last=Sandoval|first=Greg|title=HTC to acquire majority stake in Dr. Dre's Beats|url=http://news.cnet.com/8301-31001_3-20090967-261/htc-to-acquire-majority-stake-in-dr-dres-beats/|publisher=CNET|accessdate=20 March 2012}}</ref> Despite its majority acquisition, HTC would still allow Beats to operate as an autonomous company.<ref name=cnet-htc/>

On January 12, 2012, [[Business Week]] reported that Beats and Monster would not renew their production contract and would be ending their partnership by the end of 2012.<ref name="bw-beats"/> Monster began to market its own line of headphone products at the start of the year, aiming towards an older demographic, women, and business professionals.<ref name="bw-beats"/>

In March 2012, reports surfaced that HTC was planning to acquire the [[online music]] service [[MOG (online music)|MOG]] through Beats.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/sns-rt-us-mog-htcbre82j172-20120320,0,304541.story |title=HTC unit Beats close to buying music service MOG |accessdate=3/20/2012 |publisher=[[Reuters]]}}</ref>

==Products==
Beats' original product line were ''Beats by Dr. Dre'' premium headphones. Dr. Dre outlined in promotional materials that with most headphones, listeners are not able to hear "all" of the music, and that Beats would allow people "to hear what the artists hear, and listen to the music the way they should: the way I do."<ref name=geek-beats/> A review by [[Geek.com]] for the original Beats headphones noted that they produced "crisp highs and bass pumping lows" and allowed its reviewer to hear background noise on a live recording that he had never noticed before, concluding that they were best in their class despite their high price.<ref name=geek-beats>{{cite web|last=Evans|first=Joel|title=Review: Beats by Dr. Dre headphones|url=http://www.geek.com/articles/gadgets/review-beats-by-dr-dre-headphones-20080730/|publisher=Geek.com|accessdate=23 May 2012}}</ref> A review by [[HardOCP]] of the Beats "Studio" headphones noted that the headphones seemed to be better optimized for modern pop, and [[hip-hop]] more than any other genre, and felt that the "Studio" branding was a [[misnomer]] which only referred to Dr. Dre's studio.<ref name=hardocp-beats>{{cite web|title=Beats by Dr. Dre Studio Headphones Review|url=http://www.hardocp.com/article/2011/08/11/beats_by_dr_dre_studio_headphones_review/|publisher=[[HardOCP]]|accessdate=23 May 2012}}</ref> 

Alongside Beats headphones, it has also licensed the Beats brand and technology to other manufacturers. In 2011, [[HP]] began to offer [[personal computer]]s (such as [[HP Envy|Envy]] laptops and its [[All-in-one computer|all-in-one]] [[HP TouchSmart|TouchSmart]] desktops) equipped with ''Beats Audio'' systems, which feature an advanced software [[Equalization|equalizer]] with a preset optimized for higher quality sound output.<ref name="hp-beats">{{cite web |title=HP Envy 14: Plenty of Power in a Stylish Package |url=http://www.pcworld.com/article/203364/hp_envy_14_plenty_of_power_in_a_stylish_package.html |publisher=[[PCWorld (magazine)|PC World]] |accessdate=3/20/2012}}</ref> Beats also partnered with [[Chrysler (division)|Chrysler]], incorporating a 10-speaker ''Beats by Dr. Dre'' sound system in its [[Chrysler_300#Second_generation|2012 Chrysler 300S]] [[Luxury vehicle|luxury]] [[automobile]].<ref name="forbes-french">{{Cite web |url=http://www.forbes.com/sites/worldviews/2012/02/27/meet-the-boss-behind-chryslers-image-makeover-he-is-french/|title=Meet The Boss Behind Chrysler's Image Makeover; He Is French |publisher=[[Forbes]]|accessdate=3/20/2012}}</ref>

Following HTC's acquisition of a majority stake in Beats, the company released the [[HTC Sensation#HTC Sensation XE with Beats Audio|HTC Sensation XE with Beats Audio]] in September 2011, the first HTC phone to feature Beats Audio integration.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.engadget.com/2011/09/14/htc-sensation-xe-gets-official-packing-1-5ghz-dual-core-cpu-and |title=HTC Sensation XE gets official, packing 1.5GHz dual-core CPU and Beats Audio |author=Amar Toor |date=September 14, 2011 |publisher=[[Engadget]] |accessdate=January 13, 2012}}</ref> Future HTC phones, such as the [[HTC One X]], would also feature Beats Audio support.<ref name="PCMAG unveiling">{{cite web |url=http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2400755,00.asp |title=Hands On With the HTC One X, S, and V |publisher=Ziff Davis Inc. |date=February 26, 2012 |accessdate=February 26, 2012 |author=Segan, Sascha}}</ref>

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
* {{official|http://www.beatsbydre.com/}}

[[Category:Headphones]]
[[Category:2008 introductions]]
[[Category:HTC Corporation]]

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