HERE IS THE LINK TO THE ARTICLE:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/gordonkelly/2014/05/09/why-apple-has-lost-the-plot-with-3-2-billion-purchase-of-beats-by-dre/
I know how important profit and shares are to the bigger business. The only real problem of insight not found or noted by the writer of the article (link listed at top) is the fact that Brand and Music flow upstream for a very long time. The writer of the article is basing his theory on traditional vantage points of business from the Wall Street stock evaluation angle. What is not factored in is trust of a product from the community.
Dr. Dre and music have crafted a place in history before this deal. Dr. Dre in the music community is held at a higher standard than most of the audio branded names mentioned in the article. Beats by Dre as a recognized brand worn by many celebrities and non celebrities alike says mountains. Adding fashion sense of simplicity to maintain the function of power and control is marketing well paid for in research and development. The design, the color scheme, and Title of product were well thought out and on point!
When it comes to making deals however, nothing is permanent until all checks have cleared. The degrees of meeting terms are beyond the word variable. Most ego's in business cannot handle a deal being done without their individual input for the simple bragging right of what the deal is offering. If this deal goes through I anticipate Apple's route with the product will be their very demise with the product. I am not competing with myself if I am always the winner regardless of which side I play the game. The game here is always money, power, and distribution.
