HTC has been making a lot of noise about the inclusion of Beats by Dre headphones with some of their more music-focused smartphones over the last year, and the benefits those headphones and associated technology bring to the table. But now it appears that the company will no longer be bundling the headphones with their phones or tablets.
Whilst some, including myself, did not find the headphones to be particularly special – they only seemed to add bass to the mix – HTC spent $300 million on a 51% stake in the company. Now Monster used to be the manufacturer of the Beats headphones, but that partnership has recently ended and Beats are without a manufacturing partner – so unless HTC wanted to pick up the process, even if HTC wanted to continue bundling the headphones, there is nobody to actually make them.
For its part, HTC has said that whilst they are stopping bundling the headphones, they are working on including some of the technology directly into their phone – so people should expect a bass-boost from HTC smartphones with whatever headphones they decide to use quite soon.