Leading smartphone maker HTC has invested 300 million dollars in Beats Electronics, hoping that the high-end headphones company founded by rap mogul Dr Dre can help make phones sound as good as they look, the companies said Thursday.
"We believe our strategic partnership will provide customers with unbeatable sound on HTC phones," said Peter Chou, HTC chief executive. "We obsess over every detail of a consumer's mobile experience, and audio is a critical part of that experience."
Beats Chairman Jimmy Iovine, an influential music industry executive, said that alliance "represents a critical step in our continued mission to clean up the destruction of audio caused by the digital revolution and reengineer how sound is delivered so that the consumer feels the music the way that the artist intended."
The deal could help HTC differentiate its Android-based phones from competitors from Motorola, Samsung and others, which all currently feature similar hardware like dual-core processors and 3D screens.