Beats president Luke Wood now '100%' focused on Electronics division, targeting global expansion

Posted:
in General Discussion edited September 2015
Shortly after Apple's $3 billion takeover of Beats in 2014, Beats president Luke Wood dropped all attention on Beats Music in favor of the company's flagship Electronics division, according to an interview published on Tuesday.

Zane Lowe and Luke Wood at Monday's Beats Sound Symposium.
Zane Lowe and Luke Wood at Monday's Beats Sound Symposium.


Apple Music carries on much of Beats' thinking on curation and discovery, Wood commented to Mashable. Beats Music was the foundation of Apple's on-demand streaming service, and will eventually shut down once subscriber migration finishes. Wood's statement may suggest that Apple Music development began almost immediately after the Beats buyout.

Currently, Beats Electronics is looking to expand sales to markets where its speakers and headphones have little to no footprint, Wood said.

"There are markets in Asia where the brand has not spent a lot of time. In India, Bollywood and music drives culture like almost nowhere else in the world. Brazil is another," he noted. "We want to become a more globally focused brand and just make great products."

Wood also spoke on a variety of other topics, for instance claiming that music listeners are finally "getting" high-quality audio, having previously been willing to settle for lower quality in the peak of filesharing during the early 2000s.

At the same time the executive addressed complaints that Beats products favor bass at the expense of the rest of the sound range. Beats' first-generation headphones were made to "replicate the excitement of modern albums," Wood said, referring to changes like digital recording and synthesizers, and the advent of sub-amplifiers.

Apple has left Beats Electronics relatively unchanged in terms of product design and marketing. The most notable difference has been the addition of gold, silver, and space gray colors to some product lines, and even greater presence within Apple Stores.

On Monday Wood appeared alongside Beats 1 DJ Zane Lowe at others at the Beats Sound Symposium in Sydney, Australia. He spoke with Mashable away from that event.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 22

    I've been waiting for Apple's (or Beats') entry into Lightning headphones. Still nothing yet.

     

    http://appleinsider.com/articles/15/01/08/lightning-connected-headphones-proliferate-with-new-models-from-philips-and-jbl

  • Reply 2 of 22
    rayzrayz Posts: 814member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by formosa View Post

     

    I've been waiting for Apple's (or Beats') entry into Lightning headphones. Still nothing yet.

     

    http://appleinsider.com/articles/15/01/08/lightning-connected-headphones-proliferate-with-new-models-from-philips-and-jbl


     

    I've never been sure about this.

     

    If you plug in your lightning headphones then you can't charge your phone.

  • Reply 3 of 22
    calicali Posts: 3,494member
    In before someone complains about the Beats deal or mentions thugs.

    I wish they would focus on audio and build quality now to match Apple's products. ESPECIALLY build quality.
    They should make aluminum headphones(no joke) and replace all Apple Store iPhone/iPad/iPod headphones connected to their demo units with them.
    Last time I visited an Apple Store(post Beats deal) the demo units were paired with random headphones and brands. It looked messy. Maybe that's changed recently. Idk.
    sog35 wrote: »
    Beats electronics will make $1 billion in profits a year by 2017.

    Easily making the Beats acquistion an incredible move by Apple.  Compare that to what Google is doing with Nest.  LOL.

    All tech blogs have forgotten about the Motorola and Nokia deal but I'm sure they'll release pseudo anti-Beats articles routinely.
    Like the latest headline I read, "Apple's grab for street cred could bite them in the a**"
  • Reply 4 of 22
    calicali Posts: 3,494member
    rayz wrote: »
    I've never been sure about this.

    If you plug in your lightning headphones then you can't charge your phone.

    I'm not sure who's listening via headphones while their device is charging?

    In my opinion the hardware is still too big. I'd wait until they can make the Lightning plug a quarter of the size.
  • Reply 5 of 22
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Rayz View Post

     

     

    I've never been sure about this.

     

    If you plug in your lightning headphones then you can't charge your phone.


     

    I've never been in a position where I had to charge my iPhone AND use headphones at the same time. Only times I actually use headphones is relaxing at home (like in bed or on the couch) or when out of the house (exercising or on the train).

     

    And to gain the extra functionality of a Lightning headphone would be well worth the very rare occasion I might find myself in that I need to charge and listen.

  • Reply 6 of 22
    cnocbuicnocbui Posts: 3,613member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by cali View Post





    I'm not sure who's listening via headphones while their device is charging?



    In my opinion the hardware is still too big. I'd wait until they can make the Lightning plug a quarter of the size.



    Lightning is dead.  USB-C seems to be where things are headed.

     

    Quote:

     "We want to become a more globally focused brand and just make great products."



     


     

    Well, there's a first for everything.

     

    Quote:



    Wood also spoke on a variety of other topics, for instance claiming that music listeners are finally "getting" high-quality audio, having previously been willing to settle for lower quality in the peak of filesharing during the early 2000s.

     


     

    So would that lower quality he's talking about people settling for include all those 128 kbps AAC tracks people actually bought and paid for from the iTunes store and had no choice but to settle for?  Funny thing is I think 192 kbps MP3 was more or less the standard file sharers used - well those who weren't using FLAC.

     

    Quote:

    At the same time the executive addressed complaints that Beats products favor bass at the expense of the rest of the sound range. Beats' first-generation headphones were made to "replicate the excitement of modern albums," Wood said, referring to changes like digital recording and synthesizers, and the advent of sub-amplifiers.


     

    You best replicate the sound of any album, modern or not, with a flat frequency response, dumb ass!

  • Reply 7 of 22
    mike1mike1 Posts: 3,275member

    Apple has historically cared about sound quality. Beats never has. They have concentrated on marketing products to a certain demographic, which was fine. Apple needs them to broaden their appeal and make products that sound good, look good to the rest of us, are built well and worthy of being part of Apple.

  • Reply 8 of 22
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Rayz View Post

     
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by formosa View Post

     

    I've been waiting for Apple's (or Beats') entry into Lightning headphones. Still nothing yet.

     

    http://appleinsider.com/articles/15/01/08/lightning-connected-headphones-proliferate-with-new-models-from-philips-and-jbl


     

    I've never been sure about this.

     

    If you plug in your lightning headphones then you can't charge your phone.


    I was thinking the same thing.

     

    After a long day with no charging I often have both headphones and a charging cable plugged in to the phone as I relax and put my feet up. Probably at least a few times a week.

     

    I wouldn't mind a future where headphones use USB-C, and wireless charging is more common.

  • Reply 9 of 22
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Rayz View Post

     

     

    I've never been sure about this.

     

    If you plug in your lightning headphones then you can't charge your phone.




    The big benefit for me is to eliminate the on-board batteries on active noise-cancelling headphones, such as for travel. One less thing to remember to charge (or bring batteries). Should make them lighter, also.

  • Reply 10 of 22
    peteopeteo Posts: 402member

    Where are the Beats wireless Speakers that will let me stream apple music from my apple TV into any and all rooms I want, even different songs in different rooms at the same time.

    I don't want to leave my computer on, but apple TV is always on.

    As a bonus have a speaker model that also has a battery so I can move it out side. Speaker should also support Blue tooth so I can take it with me and connect to it when not at home. Is this really that hard?

  • Reply 11 of 22
    BRIC countries don't spend money on premium electronics. They're all IP thieves and style clones.
  • Reply 12 of 22
    crowleycrowley Posts: 10,453member
    formosa wrote: »

    The big benefit for me is to eliminate the on-board batteries on active noise-cancelling headphones, such as for travel. One less thing to remember to charge (or bring batteries). Should make them lighter, also.
    Can you get ANC headphones where the ANC is powered through the cable? I've only ever had ones where a battery was used.
  • Reply 13 of 22
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Crowley View Post





    Can you get ANC headphones where the ANC is powered through the cable? I've only ever had ones where a battery was used.



    The only one I know of is the Philips M2L. No batteries needed for ANC -- it's powered by the Lightning cable.

     

    http://www.amazon.com/Philips-M2L-27-Headphones-Lightning/dp/B00V4X6QGY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1441128967&sr=8-1&keywords=philips+m2l

     

    http://appleinsider.com/articles/15/01/08/first-look-philips-shows-off-lightning-connected-fidelio-m2l-headphones

  • Reply 14 of 22
    genovellegenovelle Posts: 1,480member
    cnocbui wrote: »

    Lightning is dead.  USB-C seems to be where things are headed.


    Well, there's a first for everything.


    So would that lower quality he's talking about people settling for include all those 128 kbps AAC tracks people actually bought and paid for from the iTunes store and had no choice but to settle for?  Funny thing is I think 192 kbps MP3 was more or less the standard file sharers used - well those who weren't using FLAC.


    You best replicate the sound of any album, modern or not, with a flat frequency response, dumb ass!

    You changed a word and it changed what he said completely. He said replicate the excitement of modern music. Regular headphones really don't handle bass heavy music well. Unless you have listened to it in a studio or well designed club, you just don't know what it's supposed to sound like.
  • Reply 15 of 22
    cnocbuicnocbui Posts: 3,613member

    My headphones are

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by genovelle View Post





    You changed a word and it changed what he said completely. He said replicate the excitement of modern music. Regular headphones really don't handle bass heavy music well. Unless you have listened to it in a studio or well designed club, you just don't know what it's supposed to sound like.



    Good headphones are good headphones.  My headphones have a rated frequency response of 5 hz - 30,000 Hz.  They handle bass pretty well by not exaggerating it and being technically capable and competent at reproducing what in in the recording.  Producing intentionally non-flat, bass-heavy headphones and speakers does not get you closer to the intention of the music producer if they were any good and had half a clue as to what they were doing..  If you have flat response audio reproduction, then you do know what it's supposed to sound like.  If they weren't using accurate gear in the studio then they are incompetent and it doesn't matter how it's reproduced as it becomes just a random guess as to what the particular non-linearity of the recording environment might have been.

     

     

  • Reply 16 of 22
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by SpamSandwich View Post



    BRIC countries don't spend money on premium electronics. They're all IP thieves and style clones.

    You are joking right?

     

    Apple sales in China seem to be going pretty well. In fact Greater China has surpassed Europe as far as revenue for Apple.

     

    http://techcrunch.com/2015/07/21/china-aapl15q3/

  • Reply 17 of 22
    foggyhillfoggyhill Posts: 4,767member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by mike1 View Post

     

    Apple has historically cared about sound quality. Beats never has. They have concentrated on marketing products to a certain demographic, which was fine. Apple needs them to broaden their appeal and make products that sound good, look good to the rest of us, are built well and worthy of being part of Apple.


     

    Hmm.. . Read current reviews of their top end products then come back and comment.

  • Reply 18 of 22
    Noise-cancellation = modern day Dolby garbage.

    Better silicone rubber does a much better job with noise isolation. Any audiophile can attest that NC hurts the quality of music than cancels unwanted noise.
  • Reply 19 of 22
    crowleycrowley Posts: 10,453member
    ^ Elitist rubbish. If I don't want a sweaty rubber or tight and heavy leather seal over my ears then ANC is a perfectly viable choice, and there are some very good implementations out there.

    "Any audiophile can" go boil his/her head.
  • Reply 20 of 22
    radarthekatradarthekat Posts: 3,842moderator
    Right from the beginning the analysts and pundits missed the obvious; that a large company with global distribution can very quickly ramp the sales of an acquired smaller company. How they missed this (I was shouting it from the rooftops on their every article) is beyond me. What exactly is the knowledge and expertise of analysts? One wonders.
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