It sounds like Apple’s acquisition of Beats is going to have more repercussions for its high-end audio rivals, with the Cupertino company reportedly on the verge of pulling all Bose equipment from its online and retail stores. The news comes in the wake of an on-going battle between Beats and Bose for exposure on NFL broadcasts.
The move is just speculation for the time being, but Macrumors claims to have spoken to sources who confirmed that Bose kit would shortly be vanishing from official Apple outlets. The inventory change will begin early next week according to Macrumors. It makes sense from a business perspective, leaving the ground clear for Apple to hawk its own high-quality audio gear, but it’s not such good news for consumers who want a bit of choice when they’re shopping around.
The news comes just a day after Bose and Beats agreed to privately settle a lawsuit relating to several noise-cancelling patents. In the case’s initial filing, Bose claimed it had “suffered and will continue to suffer damages” due to patent infringements, including loss of profits, sales, and potential sales. Bose has made several recent moves to try and eat into Beats’ market share (including the NFL sponsorship) and it looks like Apple is about to strike a counter-blow.
We don’t have any details of the deal beyond the insider information that Macrumors is reporting — it’s even possible that it’s Bose rather than Apple that has decided to end the agreement — but if you find that you can’t order a new Bose speaker system from the Apple website on Monday then you’ll know the reason why.
After a wave of speculation, Apple picked up Beats for $3 billion in the summer, acquiring the company’s headphone and audio equipment business as well as its fledgling streaming music platform. This could be one of the first examples of the deal having a direct impact on Apple’s operations.
