Apple and Bose are now competitors thanks to Beats
Apple may be about to end its long retail alliance with Bose, the maker of high-end audio equipment, according to reports on Friday.
A MacRumors source says Apple will soon remove all Bose products from stores next week, instead choosing to focus on its own Beats Audio brand.
The decision may or may not be down to a spat in the United States in which San Francisco 49ers QB Colin Kaepernick was fined $10,000 by the NFL for wearing Beats headphones after the league signed a sponsorship agreement with Bose.
The rumoured move from Apple could be a retaliation from the firm, although there’s also the issue of a lawsuit filed by Bose against Beats which alleges the latter stole the former’s innovations in noise cancelling technology.
That lawsuit dropped practically before the ink was dry on the $3 billion Apple/Beats contract, so its not like Apple needed any more motivation.
With Bose now a direct competitor to its Beats brand, it’s also no surprise to see Apple axe the QC3 headphones and other Bose items from its physical stores. It remains unclear whether Apple will continue to sell them online.
Read more: Forget design, Apple needs to improve Beats Audio quality
Via: SlashGear