Beats Electronics has an interesting legacy of ups and downs. While the headphone division of the company has been largely considered a success, their introduction in the world of smartphones with HTC was a bust. Not directly related to to introduction of Beats Audio in HTC handsets, ever since devices featuring the results of the partnership have been released, HTC sales have seen a decline. But that's not going to stop Dr. Dre and company from marching forward.
According to a rumor out of BGR, Beats is not only looking to release their own handset, but a TV set and Google Play, iTunes competitor as well. The phone will be manufactured by HTC, and based on Android with a custom Beats UI. This isn't to be confused with an HTC device featuring Beats enhancements. This phone "will be a truly Beats phone." The purpose of building their own Beats branded phone is to have total control over the media platform Beats has in the works as well.
The Beats phone will connect to a Beats TV, to be manufactured by someone like Samsung, by means of "Beats connect." From there, users will be able to take full advantage of Beats subscription-based music service on any device they own.
While I can appreciate how ambitious this venture is, it sounds like a terrible idea. I can't imagine any amount of people willing to not only purchase a custom Beats branded phone, but a TV as well. The amount of money it's going to take to develop, market and support a phone, TV and music service is huge. Phone hardware already doesn't have the best profit margins, and TVs are even worse.
What do you think, would you buy a Beats branded phone, TV and subscribe to some sort of Beats music service, or has the good doctor gone mad?
