Apple has officially confirmed its plans to headphone manufacturer and music streaming service Beats Electronics for $3 billion (£1.8bn).
Beats is Apple’s biggest ever acquisition. However, in an interview with the New York Times, Apple boss Tim Cook lavished the most praise not on the company’s headphones or music service, but its two co-founders, longtime music executive Jimmy Iovine and rap star Dr Dre, who he described as “really unique”.
The pair will join Apple and work for Apple’s head of internet services Eddy Cue, although it is not clear exactly what their roles will be other than bringing some celebrity glamour into the Apple offices.
In the press release, Iovin said:
“I’ve always known in my heart that Beats belonged with Apple”
Beats will remain as an independent brand of products, with the value of that design-focused brand making up much of the purchase price.
Tim Cook has also confirmed that the Beats Music streaming app will remain cross-platform after the acquisition, with Apple not looking to shut it down on Android and Windows Phone.
