????三周前就有傳言，現在終于得到了官方證實：蘋果公司（Apple）以30億美元收購音樂耳機制造商Beats。

????Beats聯合創始人吉米?艾歐文在周三發表的一份聲明中表示：“我內心一直都認為，Beats應該屬于蘋果。”

????業內人士似乎也同意這種觀點，盡管蘋果對Beats的出價可能過高，但收購這家公司是一個聰明的決定。

????高德納（Gartner）分析師范?貝克稱：“在某種程度上，他們購買的是品牌價值，是在年輕嘻哈一代中的市場地位。”事實證明，相比中年消費者，蘋果產品更難打動嘻哈一代。

????市場營銷公司DCA Growth Advisors創始人、品牌專家迪恩?克拉奇菲爾德贊賞蘋果公司的這筆收購，因為它是一個大膽的舉措。蒂姆?庫克擔任蘋果CEO三年之后，終于走出了前任史蒂夫?喬布斯的光環。低調的庫克帶領蘋果公司對iPhone、iPad和Mac電腦進行了多次升級。但除了相對較小的調整之外，他沒有在蘋果公司身上打上太多屬于自己的烙印。

????收購Beats改變了這種情形。到目前為止，蘋果還沒有進行一筆幾十億美元的收購。相反，蘋果只是購買了一些小公司，然后吸收他們的人才。克拉奇菲爾德表示，喬布斯可能曾經嘗試開展音頻與音樂流媒體業務。但他的選擇不會是收購Beats，而是在內部為Beats培養一個競爭對手。

????克拉奇菲爾德說：“我認為，喬布斯是以蘋果為中心；相反，庫克會說：‘我們去收購一個品牌吧。’”

????蘋果收購Beats打破了音頻與音樂流媒體行業的現有格局。但業內的高管正在從正面的角度看待新的世界秩序。個人音頻設備制造商V-Moda公司的CEO瓦爾?康頓認為，蘋果的這筆收購對于整個耳機市場是好事。雖然有一段時間面臨Beats的競爭，但他的公司從2004年至今共賣出了超過500萬部“高端”耳機。

????康頓解釋說：“Beats是一家大公司，現在已經成為一個深入人心的品牌，而這一點也有助于我們的增長。”

????蘋果公司將要面臨的挑戰是，在今年年底之前交易結束之后，如何保持Beats對消費者的吸引力。雖然蘋果是全球第二大最有價值品牌【它最近被谷歌（Google）超越】，但一些傳統的Beats用戶可能并不喜歡自己的耳機被科技巨頭納入囊中。

????分析師貝克將其總結為蘋果公司的市場營銷挑戰。青少年和二十歲左右的年輕人不會像他們的父母一樣癡迷蘋果產品。

????“最初傳出蘋果收購Beats的傳聞時，一位年輕消費者一語道破天機：‘誰會買一副印著蘋果商標的Beats耳機啊？’”（財富中文網）

????譯者：劉進龍/汪皓

????We heard the rumors three weeks ago, but now it's official: Apple is buying music headphone maker Beats for $3 billion.

????"I've always known in my heart that Beats belonged with Apple," Beats co-founder Jimmy Iovinesaid in a statement on Wednesday.

????Industry insiders seemed to agree that while Apple (AAPL) may have overpaid for Beats, buying the company was a savvy decision.

????"To a certain extent they're buying some brand equity, some positioning in the market with the younger generation, with the hip-hop generation," said Van Baker, a Gartner research analyst. It's a demographic that has proven to be a tougher sell for Apple than middle-aged customers.

????Dean Crutchfield, a branding specialist and founder of marketing firm DCA Growth Advisors, lauded Apple's acquisition simply because it was a bold move. After three years on the job, Tim Cook, Apple's CEO, has finally set himself apart from his from his predecessor, Steve Jobs. Cook, an understated business-type, had overseen Apple through a few upgrades to its iPhone, iPad and Mac computers. But he hadn't really left much of an imprint on the company aside from relatively minor tweaks.

????Buying Beats changes that equation. Until now, Apple has never made a multi-billion dollar acquisition. Instead, it has generally bought small companies and absorbed their talent. Jobs would have probably have tried to do the same in the audio and music streaming business, Crutchfield said. Rather than buying Beats, he would have tried to build a rival in-house.

????"I think Steve Jobs was Apple-centric, but Cook said instead, 'Let's buy a brand,'" Crutchfield said.

????The Beats acquisition dramatically reshapes the audio and music streaming industry. But executives in the space are trying to cast the new world order in a positive light. Val Konton, CEO of personal audio maker V-Moda, called Apple's acquisition a good thing for the headphone market in general. His company has sold over 5 million "high-end" headphones since 2004, while competing, at least part of that time, with Beats.

????"Beats is big and really has become a ubiquitous brand, and that's helped us to grow, too," Konton explained.

????The challenge for Apple lies in maintaining Beats' allure with consumer long after the deal closes, as it is expected to do by the end of the year. Apple may be the world's second most valuable brand -- recently trumped by Google -- but some traditional Beats customers may not like the idea of the tech giant owning their headphones of choice.

????Baker, the analyst, summed it up as a marketing challenge for Apple. Teens and twentysomethings aren't necessarily as enthusiastic about Apple's products as their parents.

????"A young person voiced it perfectly to me when the rumors first surfaced: 'Who wants to buy a pair of Beats headphones with an Apple logo on it?'"