Did you ever drive a Scion? Status-obsessed people may have scoffed at your budget-friendly car, but you probably knew at the time it was just a Toyota with a different nameplate on it. According to a new report from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, Apple may be looking to turn the Beats brand into a similar repository for lower-priced goods.
A couple weeks ago, hidden code was found, seemingly exposing a secret Apple project aimed at developing gaming controllers—perhaps not unlike some of the cool and fun-to-use third-party accessories that already exist. And Gurman now says his anonymous inside sources have told him Apple “has indeed been working on gaming controllers for the iPhone for a bit over a year.”
However, Gurman claims, the controllers Apple has in mind may never carry Apple branding. The controller idea is being developed under the aegis of Beats, Gurman writes. At the same time, he says, Apple has begun to use Beats as a potential spigot for experimental, un-Apple-like product possibilities.
You may recall that Beats began as a headphones brand at one time owned by music executive Jimmy Iovine and AI-loving rapper and music producer Dr. Dre., and Apple bought it in 2014 for $3 billion, (in a transaction that was not without its share of drama).
Beats does indeed make a ton of good headphones that don’t get quite as much press as AirPods. But Gurman says Apple increasingly sees Beats as a way to “capitalize on the third-party accessories market” more broadly, without impacting the Apple brand.
Did you know, for instance, that Beats, and therefore Apple, makes an $18.99 woven USB-C cable?
Marketing a gaming controller is tricky if you’re Apple, Gurman says, because in order to sell well, it can’t exactly require the consumer to be at, let’s say, the Vision Pro income level. That means Apple may steer clear of premium materials and high-status finishes that make an Apple product read as an Apple product the second you see it.
“The culture and lifestyle around gaming controllers also could fit naturally under the Beats umbrella,” Gurman claims.