宏達電(2498)與美國電信業者Sprint、全球知名音響品牌Harman/Kardon三方合作，於美國紐約時間4月29日共同發表HTC One (M8) Harman/Kardon限定版發表會(如附圖)。這亦是繼HTC與Sprint在2010年合作推動美國第一款4G手機HTC EVO 4G〈行銷全美〉後，再度推出的新款跨業合作手機。
HTC One (M8) Harman/Kardon限定版將於美國地區上市並由Sprint獨家販售，並定5月2日(星期五)起於網路商店上市，5月9日(星期五)於全美Sprint門市開賣。搭配Sprint兩年專案合約，售價為229.99美金，隨機附贈價值149美金Harman/Kardon AE-S高品質耳道式耳機。
值得注意的是，去年上市的HTC One M7與知名耳機廠Beats合作，而宏達電去年多款系列手機上的Beats Audio音效，是吸引眾多年輕人的購買的因素之一。在去年下半年跟Beats合作結束之後，今年3月底新發布的M8手機，自然沒有其他第三方特殊音效技術加持。不過，此次跟Sprint推出的知名音響品牌Harman/Kardon限定版，預料將再吸引美國年輕消費者的注意。
繼HTC One (M8)於3月25日發表並邀請Gary Oldman成為北美區代言人，創造極大的市場討論聲勢。3月底HTC One (M8)發布當日在Google、Twitter和Facebook討論熱度為第一名、隔週的社群媒體觸及率、分享和按讚數成長超過300%，國際媒體與消費者佳評如潮。
宏達電乘著此熱潮，在美國時間4月29日於紐約，由具有時尚界風向球的超級巨星Pharrell Willams為HTC One (M8) Harman/Kardon限定版發表會揭開了序幕。
宏達電執行長周永明、Sprint執行長Dan Hesse、Harman Kardon執行長Dinesh C. Paliwal與線上音樂廠商Spotify執行長Daniel Ek聯手打造HTC One (M8) Harman/Kardon限定版，將廣受好評的HTC One (M8)，以其最具代表性的一體成型金屬機身予以黑色髮絲紋，綴以香檳色調調和，並讓消費者能有絕佳的音質體驗。
宏達電表示，HTC One (M8) Harman/Kardon限定版採用獨家的數位音樂還原技術，搭配Harman/Kardon耳道式耳機及HTC One (M8)的雙前置立體聲揚聲器。
宏達電指出，Harman/Kardon獨家技術「Clari-Fi」能還原各種經過壓縮的數位音樂格式，使多媒體如實呈現，自然提升音樂品質，提供錄音室等級的無損音質。
另外，Harman/Kardon獨家技術「LiveStage」搭配Harman/Kardon AE-S 高品質耳道式耳機，能創造栩栩如生、「身」臨其境的耳機聽覺體驗。
Sprint執行長Dan Hesse指出，近年來，行動音樂常被壓縮成小而粗糙的數位檔案，但在科技進步下，智慧型手機的處理器與記憶體已能讓高品質的音效原音重現，因此Sprint與HTC及HARMAN/Kardon攜手合作，共同致力將尖端科技帶給Sprint的消費者。資料來源-MoneyDJ理財網
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4楼
kimi 发表于：2014-5-9 10:25:18
Is Apple’s Beats buy just a remix of HTC’s earlier mistake?
Beats Chairman Jimmy Iovine, HTC CEO Peter Chou, and Dr. Dre.HTC, Beats
A high-flying smartphone manufacturer is buying the much-ballyhooed Beats music brand in an effort to earn some street cred.
Investors and company observers alike scratched their head at the $300 million combination, with many, including this reporter , critical about whether the deal would lead to anything fruitful. Well, Apple may have upped the ante with a reported $3.2 billion offer for Beats.
Beats declined to comment. CNET has contacted Apple and HTC for comment, and we will update the story when the companies respond.
To get a sense of what Apple may do with Beats, it's critical to see what HTC did (and didn't) do.
HTC's acquisition of the Beats stake stemmed from CEO Peter Chou's love of music and obsession over the audio quality of his devices. After announcing the deal, Chou expressed a desire to integrate Beats' audio experience into its phones.
HTC's Rezound.HTCHTC created the music-centricRezound, which came with a pair of Beats earbuds, as part of an exclusive deal with Verizon Wireless. Marquee smartphones such as its HTC One X would have the Beats logo emblazoned on their back cover.
Unfortunately, no one seemed to care.
The Rezound was one of many flops that HTC released in 2011. Part of the problem: the cost of the headphones meant the phone was retailing at a subsidized price of $300, which was a no-no when marquee smartphones were selling for $200.
While the HTC One X was a critically praised phone, it couldn't stand up to the marketing might of the Samsung Galaxy S3. And those that did buy the phone weren't buying it for the Beats brand.
At that point, HTC was beginning its downward spiral, complete with management shakeups, shrinking market share, and a tumbling stock price.
HTC in September sold off the remaining stake in Beats for $265 million , netting a slight gain on its investment. But given the hype surrounding the original announcement, it's noticeable for how little HTC did with Beats.
From left, Spotify CEO Daniel Ek, Sprint CEO Dan Hesse, Harman CEO Dinesh Paliwal, and HTC CEO Peter Chou at an event last week.Sarah Tew/CNET
Last week, HTC unveiled a special Harman Kardon edition of itsHTC One M8, complete with special earbuds and audio software. The HTC One M8, like its predecessor, also comes with front-facing "Boomsound" speakers to better project music and movies. Chou told CNET that it was part of his commitment to improving the audio quality of his phones.
HTC was able to achieve all this without ever making an investment in a company.
If Apple were to buy Beats, it would certainly be in a different situation and have more to play with. In addition to the Beats headphone line, Dr. Dre's company recently launched a subscription streaming service called Beats Music, which AT&T offers on its smartphones. And Apple is a much larger company with dramatically more reach and brand recognition than HTC.
But it's telling that the same kind of head-scratching pontification that occurred when HTC announced its deal is happening all over again.
苹果CEO Tim Cook：“音乐是所有人生活中的重要组成部分，在苹果公司的内心深处占据着特殊的地位，这也正是我们不断对音乐业务进行投资的原因所在。我们将把两个团队整合到一起，从而继续创造出世界上最具创新性的音乐产品和服务。”
Jimmy Iovine在接受采访也表示：“我们最初创立这家公司的灵感就是源于苹果那种将文化与科技巧妙结合的能力。苹果对音乐爱好者、艺术家、歌曲创作者以及音乐产业的承诺是深远而特别的，在我心里，我一直都知道Beats与苹果会在一起。”
此次交易仍需要获得有关监管部门的批准，预计将在今年年底前完成。
19楼
kimi 发表于：2014-5-29 18:21:20
FORTUNE -- We heard the rumors three weeks ago, but now it's official: Apple is buying music headphone maker Beats for $3 billion.
"I've always known in my heart that Beats belonged with Apple," Beats co-founder Jimmy Iovine said in a statement on Wednesday.
Industry insiders seemed to agree that while Apple (AAPL) may have overpaid for Beats, buying the company was a savvy decision.
"To a certain extent they're buying some brand equity, some positioning in the market with the younger generation, with the hip-hop generation," said Van Baker, a Gartner research analyst. It's a demographic that has proven to be a tougher sell for Apple than middle-aged customers.
Dean Crutchfield, a branding specialist and founder of marketing firm DCA Growth Advisors, lauded Apple's acquisition simply because it was a bold move. After three years on the job, Tim Cook, Apple's CEO, has finally set himself apart from his from his predecessor, Steve Jobs. Cook, an understated business-type, had overseen Apple through a few upgrades to its iPhone, iPad and Mac computers. But he hadn't really left much of an imprint on the company aside from relatively minor tweaks.
Buying Beats changes that equation. Until now, Apple has never made a multi-billion dollar acquisition. Instead, it has generally bought small companies and absorbed their talent. Jobs would have probably have tried to do the same in the audio and music streaming business, Crutchfield said. Rather than buying Beats, he would have tried to build a rival in-house.
"I think Steve Jobs was Apple-centric, but Cook said instead, 'Let's buy a brand,'" Crutchfield said.
The Beats acquisition dramatically reshapes the audio and music streaming industry. But executives in the space are trying to cast the new world order in a positive light. Val Konton, CEO of personal audio maker V-Moda, called Apple's acquisition a good thing for the headphone market in general. His company has sold over 5 million "high-end" headphones since 2004, while competing, at least part of that time, with Beats.
"Beats is big and really has become a ubiquitous brand, and that's helped us to grow, too," Konton explained.
The challenge for Apple lies in maintaining Beats' allure with consumer long after the deal closes, as it is expected to do by the end of the year. Apple may be the world's second most valuable brand -- recently trumped by Google -- but some traditional Beats customers may not like the idea of the tech giant owning their headphones of choice.
Baker, the analyst, summed it up as a marketing challenge for Apple. Teens and twentysomethings aren't necessarily as enthusiastic about Apple's products as their parents.
"A young person voiced it perfectly to me when the rumors first surfaced: 'Who wants to buy a pair of Beats headphones with an Apple logo on it?'"
20楼
kimi 发表于：2014-5-29 18:23:21
Does Apple AAPL want to dominate your ears or does it want to back-door into more of your car? Does it want to knock Harman HAR out of the infotainment business in cars?
You are going to hear that a lot today when people peel back the onion of the possible $3.2 billion deal to buy Beats Electronics.
I think they won't, but I also know that this deal would put pressure on Harman's stock, even though it just reported an amazing quarter and is one of the best-performing stocks of the era.
The initial stories about the potential acquisition are highlighting the streaming music service that Beats offers with some sort of patented technology from which I am sure audiophiles can make hay. The thinking is pretty easy to follow: Apple iTunes numbers were actually down year over year -- not just growing more slowly -- and that's because it is losing mindshare to those who want to rent music via Spotify and Pandora P . We know the late Apple founder Steve Jobs believed that people wanted to own, not rent, music. But times change and people's habits change, and Jobs looks like he was wrong on this one.
So if Apple buys Beats, it gets some cool headphones that it already sells at its stores, and it can integrate Beats into its operating system.
But if you go to the website for Beats and scroll down, you will see that Beats is part of a package for the Fiat and Chrysler higher-end vehicles. So people are going to be speculating that Apple wants to use this back door to get into the incredibly lucrative car infotainment business. You have 250 million cars on the highway in the U.S., and each comes with a system that's got a lot of technology in it that revolves around infotainment. The dominant player in the space is Harman, which makes systems for just about every car company, including Chrysler.
Last month, at the New York International Auto Show, Apple introduced CarPlay, a system that allows your iPhone to work in conjunction with, or to duplicate, some of the functions that Harman provides as part of its infotainment system. Harman has always had a cohort of short-sellers circling it, and we saw a lot of shorting in Harman when Apple was on the verge of displaying CarPlay at the auto show. But once it came out, the sellers covered, as it was viewed as too limited to really challenge Harman, which has integrated itself into the very sinew of cars after initially being seen as just a speaker company.
So, now the question becomes: Will Beats be "just the speaker company" that combines with Apple to eventually challenge Harman's hegemony in the auto business? Could that be the hidden goal behind Beats beyond the headphone and subscription businesses?
Now, we don't know if that's the case. But we do know that Beats will no doubt team up with Apple to develop an iPhone that will rival the brand new HTC Android system, which uses a Harman system that got the same high-end sound equivalent from some of the best Harman speakers. It's meant to combat what many feel is the crimped and less-than-stellar sound that currently comes out of your cellphone. It could be a defensive move that's very much needed, given that Sprint S just started featuring the Harman phone at it stores, and it could take market share away from the iPhone.
So it makes sense that Apple intends to square off against Harman both in the car and in the handheld device.
There's only one real weakness to this potential controversy. Apple is reportedly set to pay $3.2 billion for Beats. Harman is only a $7 billion company. Apple could -- and should -- pay $10 billion to get Harman, which would then integrate everything Apple wants into pretty much every car on the road, which is where Harman's headed.
That, alas, would be a better deal. So would, for that matter, just going and buying Pandora for $6 billion, a nice premium to the $4.5 billion that Pandora currently trades for. Yes, $16 billion is a lot more than the $3.2 billion that Apple might shell out for Beats. But with it you get the streaming system and the potential infotainment system for every car on the road.
Just makes a heck of a lot more sense to me than trying to dislodge Harman. I say let Harman shares come down off the machinations associated with this deal. And then buy it -- because if Apple wants in, why wouldn't one of Apple's rivals want to make a similar move?
Yep -- don't short Harman. Buy it on the pressure this deal will generate. Because as powerful as Apple is, you can't topple the business that Harman has built over the years with pretty much every auto company out there, including the only partner Beats currently has in the business -- the Fiat-Chrysler nexus.
