Dive Brief:
-
Apple will remove Bose audio products from its shelves, in a move seen as giving its newly acquired Beats headphones line a place of prominence, according to MacRumors.com.
-
The two companies just last week also settled a patent dispute over noise-cancelation technology, which Bose said Beats had unlawfully copied.
-
And a new sponsorship deal between Bose and the National Football League has lead to major fines for NFL players for wearing Beats (or any other) branded audio gear on camera at practice or games.
Dive Insight:
This is mostly a lot of natural elbowing between competitors. Since its acquisition of Beats, Apple is now a Bose competitor, and it has no obligation to feature Bose products any more than it must feature Samsung phones. Still, this is a little tricky for Apple because people who use Bose products, which are generally more expensive but certainly more prized by audiophiles, are unlikely to shop for Beats. Is Apple giving its own Beats products their proper exclusivity on its shelves, or is it cutting out a big-spending tier of its customer base?
