Apple Inc.’s planned $3 billion acquisition of Beats Electronics and Beats Music cleared a regulatory hurdle: The European Union approved the merger, finding that the combination did not raise anti-competitive concerns. The regulatory body determined that, although Beats and Apple both sell headphones in Europe, their combined market share is low — and there are several large global competitors, including Bose and Sony. Similarly, Apple’s purchase of the Beats streaming music service doesn’t raise concerns, both because it is not currently available in Europe, and because it would face competition from rivals including Spotify and Deezer.
This article originally appeared on Recode.net.
Will you support Vox’s explanatory journalism?
Most news outlets make their money through advertising or subscriptions. But when it comes to what we’re trying to do at Vox, there are a couple of big issues with relying on ads and subscriptions to keep the lights on:
First, advertising dollars go up and down with the economy. We often only know a few months out what our advertising revenue will be, which makes it hard to plan ahead.
Second, we’re not in the subscriptions business. Vox is here to help everyone understand the complex issues shaping the world — not just the people who can afford to pay for a subscription. We believe that’s an important part of building a more equal society. And we can’t do that if we have a paywall.
So even though advertising is still our biggest source of revenue, we also seek grants and reader support. (And no matter how our work is funded, we have strict guidelines on editorial independence.)
If you also believe that everyone deserves access to trusted high-quality information, will you make a gift to Vox today? Any amount helps.
Yes, I'll give $5/month
Yes, I'll give $5/month
We accept credit card, Apple Pay, and
Google Pay. You can also contribute via
