This episode is all about the (alleged) Apple Beats acquisition. While it may make a certain amount of business sense, does it signify a small but significant change in Apple’s priorities, and is it a cause for concern? Topics covered include:
- The rationale for the acquisition
- The difference between making and recognizing market opportunities
- What makes Apple uniquely capable of building revolutionary products
- Apple’s previous responses when threatened in music
- How to think about mergers and acquisitions
- How to best motivate employees
Links:
- Why Apple is Buying Beats – Ben Thompson
- The New M&A Playbook – Clayton Christensen
- One More Time: How Do You Motivate Employees? – Frederick Herzberg
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Apple is also likely readying to release high bit-rate tracks in iTunes, so I can see how that plays into the strategy. You can’t put $100-$400 headphones in the box with the phone and compete with the cheap Android and Windows phones. It’s also interesting that Beats releases the Solo2 (coincidentally) at the close of the deal. Solo2 are less Beats (over base tonal quality) type and moving towards a reference model, while keeping it close to how people want to hear it.