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Beats Electronics history
Beats Electronics company history timeline
Beats was established in 2006 by music producer Doctor Dre and record company executive Jimmy Iovine.
Beats initially partnered with Monster Cable, an audio and video component manufacturer based in Brisbane, California, to manufacture and develop the first Beats-branded products, and debuted its first product, Beats by Doctor Dre Studio headphones, on July 25, 2008.
He worked his way up the ladder, running a store, then a district, and then a region; he eventually ascended to the rank of COO and took over as Best Buy’s chief executive in 2009.
Boosted by all the free product placement, Beats suddenly accounted for nearly one-third of the market, racking up revenues of $180 million in 2009.
In August 2010, mobile phone manufacturer HTC acquired a 50.1% majority share in Beats for $309 million.
Later in 2010, they launched Powerbeats with LeBron James and Justbeats with Justin Bieber.
In August 2011, with Beats’ annual revenues rocketing toward $500 million, the company got an incredible infusion: handset maker HTC paid $300 million for a 51 percent stake.
On January 19, 2012, BusinessWeek reported that Beats and Monster would not renew their production contract and their partnership ceased at the end of 2012.
The appointment of a new chief operating officer (COO), a role previously filled by Wood, was announced in early November 2013.
On January 21, 2014, the company launched Beats Music, a subscription-based online music streaming service.
The agreement was announced directly through a YouTube video and image posted on the Facebook network by Tyrese Gibson in May 2014.
Matthew Costello, formerly of IKEA and HTC, was formally appointed to the role in May 2014.
In July 2014, Bose Corporation sued Beats Electronics, alleging that its "Studio" line incorporated noise cancellation technology that infringed five patents held by the company.
At the time, neither Dre, Iovine or Wood were experienced in the operation of a company at such a grand level, but Wood explained in 2014:
In January 2015, Monster Inc. sued Beats for fraud, alleging that the company had used illicit tactics to force Monster out of the venture whilst retaining rights to the technologies and products that it had co-developed, and engaged in collusion to harm Monster's own audio products business.
Beats Music was discontinued effective with the launch of Apple Music on June 30, 2015.
In 2015, Iovine told Wired that when he and Dre founded Beats, he hoped to someday be acquired by Jobs. “Apple got the best people in pop culture,” Iovine said. “Whether it succeeds or not, it’s the beginning of what the future should look like.”
At Milan Fashion Week 2015, Beats debuted its first fashion collaboration after Apple: Fendi.
In 2018, Beats announced its official partnership with the NBA. On the other side of the spectrum, Beats teamed up with the Nigerian conceptual artist Emeka Ogboh, who exhibited at Documenta and the Venice Biennale.
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Zippia gives an in-depth look into the details of Beats Electronics, including salaries, political affiliations, employee data, and more, in order to inform job seekers about Beats Electronics. The employee data is based on information from people who have self-reported their past or current employments at Beats Electronics. The data on this page is also based on data sources collected from public and open data sources on the Internet and other locations, as well as proprietary data we licensed from other companies. Sources of data may include, but are not limited to, the BLS, company filings, estimates based on those filings, H1B filings, and other public and private datasets. While we have made attempts to ensure that the information displayed are correct, Zippia is not responsible for any errors or omissions or for the results obtained from the use of this information. None of the information on this page has been provided or approved by Beats Electronics. The data presented on this page does not represent the view of Beats Electronics and its employees or that of Zippia.
Beats Electronics may also be known as or be related to Beats By Dr. Dre, Beats Electronics, Beats Electronics, LLC and Beats by Dre.