If you own an HTC phone, by now you must be familiar with Beats audio a popular headphone maker. According to Engadget Beats is buying back HTC’s 25 percent stake in the company. Okay here is how the story goes, Initially HTC bought a $300 million, 50.1 percent stake in Beats back in 2011, and the headphone maker then paid $150 million to buy back half of that
investment last year. So this announcement means the close partnership between the two companies comes to an end, with Beats buying back the final $265 million in shares. HTC still maintains to assure its customers that Beats will still be an important partner even if they never disclosed the reasons behind the split and any financial hit.
Its a public secret that HTC has been scrambling to gain smartphone market share recently, with its profits tapering quarter after quarter. As for Beats it was the reverse, their revenues have been strong and the company claims a high percentage for premium headphones. HTC has branded all of its high-end handsets with the Beats logo over the past couple of years, and it’s still not immediately clear whether that branding will continue at all.
