#Does beats updater work for beatsx update

The relationship has become symbiotic, benefiting both parties for the greater good of the organization. Jordan Brand earns most of its cache from the retro shoe colorways it created in the ‘80s and ‘90s, but it still releases a pair of new shoes every year for athletes and customers who want the latest and greatest in sneaker technology and comfort, despite competing against its parent company Nike in nearly every respect. If Apple doesn’t release new products from Beats unless they are iterative updates to existing products - let us not forget the Beats Pill, which hasn’t been updated since 2015 - what space does that leave for Beats to evolve as more than a sideshow for Apple’s self-branded products? Apple is going after both the high-end headphone market and the wireless market without utilizing the headphone company it purchased. And Apple’s AirPods have already claimed a large portion of the wireless headphone market, which will likely exclude Beats from entering into that forum.

#Does beats updater work for beatsx update

In his report, Gurman noted that the upcoming over-the-ear headphones from Apple are designed to compete for the high-end headphone market, an area that Beats has targeted with its Beats Pro (which also haven’t received an update in years). Apple’s standalone audio history has been up and down recently it found success with its wireless AirPods, but it’s had a much tougher time with its HomePod smart speaker making inroads against Amazon’s Echo and the Google Home speaker. Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reported that Apple is preparing its own over-the-ear headphones that would compete directly with the Studio 3 and Solo 3 headphones, the bread and butter of its subsidiary. So what would happen if Apple actually developed products for Beats as more than an afterthought? We may never know. But it could be argued that this isn’t necessarily due to the quality of the products - the Studio 3s are good headphones, but not the best in the industry, as Vlad Savov noted in his review - but more so because of the company’s exceptional marketing team.Īpple is preparing its own over-the-ear headphones To be fair, that strategy has worked: Beats just inked a deal to be the official headphones of the NBA and USA Basketball it has signed major celebrities like LeBron James, Neymar, Colin Kaepernick, and Serena Williams as brand ambassadors and, by most metrics, it owns nearly 50 percent of the premium headphone market. But one would think Apple spent billions on Beats for more than its engineering team that helped create Apple Music and some periodically repainted headphones. Beats consistently releases new colorways of its headphones (a marketing strategy popularized by Jordan Brand and employed throughout the sneaker and fashion industry) to keep its brand relevant. You’ll see Beats headphones being worn by many of the top athletes in the world and in a number of music videos from major artists in order to sell the same headphones over and over again, despite the lack of new hardware. What Beats has done extremely well is leverage its position as a staple of youth, sports, and fashion culture. The last new headphones it introduced were the BeatsX back in 2016, and those have yet to receive an iterative update.īeats has leveraged its position as a staple of youth, sports, and fashion cultures That may seem like a jarring shift at first, but upon closer inspection, you’ll notice that Beats has largely only made iterative updates: it’s on the third edition of its Solo, Studio, and Powerbeats lines, all of which have received minor updates over the years instead of releasing truly new and innovative products. Since Apple bought Beats Electronics in 2013, its subsidiary has released either a new pair of headphones or a speaker every year until now. There’s a good chance 2018 will end with no new products from Beats at all, which is uncharted territory for the headphone maker. There has also been talk about Apple producing its own over-the-ear headphones, which would presumably compete against options from Beats, the headphone company Apple spent $3 billion acquiring. There’s a strong chance that we’ll see an updated pair of AirPods. In fact, any and all evidence surrounding new headphones from the company points toward new products directly from Apple.

The company does not plan to announce any new hardware from Beats, the largest premium headphone company in the world, a source close to the situation tells The Verge. Apple’s big fall iPhone event is tomorrow, but if you’ve been hoping for something new from Beats, prepare to be let down.