Beats Acquisition Boosting Apple's 'Coolness' Factor Among Young Consumers

beatsbydreLast week, Apple confirmed its plans to acquire Beats Electronics and Beats Music in a $3 billion deal that would bring a successful headphone business and a fledgling streaming music service under Apple's umbrella. While many have pointed to Jimmy Iovine as the acquisition target, Apple may also be using the deal to boost its "coolness" factor among younger users, as suggested in a survey by education technology company Chegg (via Re/code).

Chegg asked 10,000 students about their experience with Beats and their knowledge of the Apple-Beats merger. While most of the students surveyed were familiar with the Beats brand, only 15 percent had purchased Beats products and a mere three percent had subscribed to the Beats Music service. More than half of the students (60 percent) were aware of the deal with one quarter claiming the deal will make Apple more "cool" and fifty percent believing the acquisition will increase Apple's popularity among students.

This is largely good, albeit unsurprising, news for Apple, which has long dominated the college market. In most college lecture halls across the country, you’ll see rows and rows of MacBooks — many of which were purchased using Apple’s educational discount or in Apple-affiliated campus stores. Still, more and more young people are streaming music using services other than iTunes. Spotify has more than 40 million subscribers, and 40 percent of its American users are between the ages of 18-24.

Beats is often criticized as being a bass-heavy fashion accessory and not a true audiophile product, but sales figures reveal that the typically younger consumers who buy Beats are more interested in appearance than audio quality. According to marketing research company NPD, Beats accounts for 27 percent of the $1.8 billion headphone market and more than half (57 percent) of the premium market for headphones with a starting price tag of $100 or more.

Popular Stories

apple tv 4k new orange

New Apple TV Expected Later This Year With These New Features

Saturday July 12, 2025 3:09 pm PDT by
A new Apple TV is expected to be released later this year, and a handful of new features and changes have been rumored for the device. Below, we recap what to expect from the next Apple TV, according to rumors. Rumors Faster Wi-Fi Support The next Apple TV will be equipped with Apple's own combined Wi-Fi and Bluetooth chip, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. He said the chip supports ...
Apple Watch Ultra 2 Complications

Apple Watch Ultra 3: What to Expect

Sunday July 13, 2025 10:30 am PDT by
The long wait for an Apple Watch Ultra 3 is nearly over, and a handful of new features and changes have been rumored for the device. Below, we recap what to expect from the Apple Watch Ultra 3:Satellite connectivity for sending and receiving text messages when Wi-Fi and cellular coverage is unavailable 5G support, up from LTE on the Apple Watch Ultra 2 Likely a wide-angle OLED display that ...
iPhone 17 Pro in Hand Feature Lowgo

iPhone 17 Pro Coming Soon With These 16 New Features

Friday July 11, 2025 12:40 pm PDT by
Apple's next-generation iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are only two months away, and there are plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models. Latest Rumors These rumors surfaced in June and July:A redesigned Dynamic Island: It has been rumored that all iPhone 17 models will have a redesigned Dynamic Island interface — it might ...
iphone 16 pro ghost hand

5 Reasons to Skip This Year's iPhone 17 Pro

Thursday July 10, 2025 4:54 am PDT by
Apple will launch its new iPhone 17 series in two months, and the iPhone 17 Pro models are expected to get a new design for the rear casing and the camera area. But more significant changes to the lineup are not expected until next year, when the iPhone 18 models arrive. If you're thinking of trading in your iPhone for this year's latest, consider the following features rumored to be coming...
top stories 2025 07 12

Top Stories: iPhone 17 Pro Rumors, iOS 26 Beta 3, and More

Saturday July 12, 2025 6:00 am PDT by
The iOS 26 public beta release is quickly approaching, while developers have recently gotten their hands on a third round of betas that has seen Apple continue to tweak features, design, and functionality. We're also continuing to hear rumors about the iPhone 17 lineup that is now just about right around the corner, while Apple's latest big-budget film appears to be taking off, so read on...
iPhone 14 Pro Dynamic Island

iPhone 17 May See 'Significant' Dynamic Island Changes

Monday July 14, 2025 12:11 am PDT by
The iPhone's Dynamic Island experience is set to undergo "significant evolution" over the next few years, according to a new rumor. Earlier this month, a report suggested that the iPhone 17 lineup will feature a redesigned Dynamic Island user interface, but little else was explained about the software changes. Now, the leaker known as "Majin Bu" appears to have corroborated this, commenting ...

Top Rated Comments

patrickbarnes Avatar
145 months ago
No one on this site cares about Beats, MacRumors.

Give it up.
Score: 41 Votes (Like | Disagree)
MacintoshMan Avatar
145 months ago
How I see this.

Score: 32 Votes (Like | Disagree)
TWSS37 Avatar
145 months ago
To each his own, I would never buy beats (I have Bose) but I can't deny their success.

The article does bring a good point, people spend most on music purchases / subscription when they are in their teens to twenties, so if Beats is #1 with that category, why not?

Funny thing is, a lot of people who I speak to (and my own personal experience) is that Bose is exactly like Beats in the audio world - overpriced and purchased by name, not actual quality.
Score: 25 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Orlandoech Avatar
145 months ago
You mean, "naive" consumers.
Score: 20 Votes (Like | Disagree)
waloshin Avatar
145 months ago
Even Mac OSX is getting a kid tastic makeover!
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)
sundog925 Avatar
145 months ago
God everything is hipster now. Shoot me.
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)