HTC may be turning to music to help its struggling handset business compete with popular mobile phones from Apple and Samsung. Last year, the handset maker acquired a majority stake in Beats Electronics, an audio accessory maker founded by rap artist Dr. Dre and Interscope-Geffen-A&M Records chairman Jimmy Iovine. Branded as “Beats Audio”, this audio technology landed in recent handsets like the HTC Rezound on Verizon Wireless. This year, the company may further its partnership with Beat Electronics by introducing a streaming music service, says a report by GigaOM.
Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre are possibly using their influence in the music industry to secure the licensing needed to get a streaming service on HTC phones and tablets. The service will probably be incorporated into the default music client on HTC’s mobile devices. GigaOM sources say the company is still working on pricing and plans, but could announce the service later this month at Mobile World Congress.
This move is supposedly part of a larger strategy that focuses on services instead of hardware as a way to differentiate HTC’s phones from its competition. When it comes to decision-making time, would you choose a handset because it has a built-in music streaming service?
[Via GigaOM; image via Shutterstock]