Beats Electronics Wants to Kick HTC to the Curb, Find New Investors

From DailyTech: As HTC continues to sink, Beats Electronics is looking to bail and possibly search for other investors.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Beat Electronics LLC -- the audio products company founded by rapper Dr. Dre -- wants to buy out HTC in their smartphone venture.

In August 2011, HTC acquired a majority stake at 50.1 percent in Beats Electronics for $300 million USD. The venture aimed to help HTC gain market share from Samsung and Apple smartphones, and help Beats enter the smartphone market.

However, in mid-2012, HTC was forced to sell back half of its stake in Beats due to a huge decline in revenue and profits. This resulted in a net loss of $4.8 million for HTC.

Today, things don't look much better for the Taiwanese gadget maker. According to The Wall Street Journal, HTC's sales have fallen below $4 billion since Q4 2011. The company also predicts its first operating loss this quarter.

For Q2 2013, which was reported last month, HTC took in $70.7 billion TWD ($2.35 billion USD) for the quarter -- which fell below analyst expectations of $72.8 billion TWD ($2.42 billion USD). Profit was at $1.25 billion TWD ($41.5 million USD), which fell short of the $2.17 billion TWD ($72 million USD) analysts expected.

Recognizing that HTC is a sinking ship, Beats is reportedly looking for a buyout and may look for other investors so that it can keep its foot in the smartphone market.

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