When Nokia launched the Lumia 900 via AT&T without headphones in the box, everyone started badmouthing the manufacturer and hurried to predict its failure. Those who hate Nokia and are simply obsessed with Android used to claim the Lumia 900 wouldn’t be able to compete with such a monster as the HTC Rezound because the phone is sold with free Beats Audio headphones coming inside the box. It now seems those consumers will no longer have any real contradistinction because HTC has decided to exclude Beats headphones from the boxes of all upcoming devices.
Accordingly, HTC One series smartphones will be launched without earbuds. I wonder how the company feels about the $300 million spent on acquiring the 51 percent of Beats Electronics shares. As you remember, the company acquired them to design handsets for especially those consumers for whom the headphones play a decisive role in purchasing a handset.
Dr. Dre’s headphones were thought to be the selling point of the HTC Rezound and the Sensation XL but it turns out they were not able to help the manufacturer ensure high sales volumes. Martin Fichter, HTC product executive, told CNET, “An accessory like the headphone doesn’t factor in when someone is buying a smartphone. If they want a Beats headphone, they’ll buy it directly.”
I can’t say whether this announcement will have an impact on HTC lovers or not but there is some truth in Fichter’s words. On the other hand, no one will mind owning headphones with Beats branding.