Five possible reasons why Apple-Beats deal is delayed: Report

Reports earlier had been suggesting Apple would announce its biggest $3.2 billion Beats acquisition this week, but there has been no show so far. Billboard has now listed several reasons citing its sources, why the deal is possibly delayed.

The news site has compiled five reasons, and what appears to be the crucial one among them is - how Jimmy Iovine and Dr Dre will fit in? We’ve earlier heard that Iovine and Dr. Dre would get senior positions at Apple and now the report points out it has heard “concerns as to whether they’ll fit in or if they would be best as permanent consultants rather than full-time executives.” It is also highly speculated that both Beats founders will be overseeing content at Apple.

The report also points out at the video posted by Dr Dre being yet another reason why the deal is delayed as it could have possibly ‘freaked out’ Apple. Dr. Dre had put out a video claiming he was the first billionaire in hip hop after the deal.

The report also states that the deal isn’t pretty straightforward and rather quite ‘complicated’ for Apple. After all, Apple is going against its tradition of acquiring smaller startups, as this time around it will be buying a fully established brand.

Another possible reason is Apple’s valuation of Beats Music, as it is believed to acquire the company for Beats Music and its subscribers and not headphones. So, it’s probably planning Beats Music to function as a separate entity from iTunes. The report further states, “Given it has less than 200,000 subscribers, doesn’t yet have much market traction and is built on a white label service, what is it worth to Apple? We’d heard a $200 million valuation before news of the Apple deal broke. Is it worth that much or in fact a lot more if it is the reason for deal? This is what both sides have been unable to agree on so far, according to a source.”

Finally, the report suggests that Beats leaked the acquisition news too early, could be another reason that irked Apple.