HTC buys controlling stake in Dr. Dre’s Beats Electronics

HTC has today announced a strategic partnership with Beats Electronics, best known for the Beats by Dr. Dre audio solutions. That strategic partnership is actually a $300 million investment and controlling stake in the company.

Beats Electronics was created by Dr. Dre with a focus on delivering better sound through headphones and speakers and providing playback of music much closer to what the artist intended. The Beats audio solutions have also found their way into laptops through a deal with HP and the Envy line, but will now also be added to HTC’s range of devices.

By bringing Beats on board HTC will gain both a marketing and a feature advantage over other smartphones and tablets on the market. Its gadgets will be able to boast better audio output either through the included speakers or headphones, if you are using a Beats set of course, and can carry the well-known and easily recognized Beats branding.

In taking a controlling stake HTC can use the Beats technology as it wishes, but has chosen to allow the company to continue working “autonomously.” That means existing relationships with Monster Cable products and HP will be maintained, but any new relationships will come under scrutiny by HTC who will no doubt want the focus on its own products going forward.

Read more at the HTC press release and The Register