In case you missed it, Apple acquired premium headphones maker Beats Electronics earlier this year for an estimated $3 billion.
In light of that buyout, Apple is now doing its utmost to further boost sales of the company’s audio headsets in its stores by slowly eliminating its rivals from its shelves.
Bose is the first casualty, according to MacRumors. The website claims it has it from a reliable source close to the tech giant that all of Bose’s audio equipment (that goes beyond headphones to include speakers and accessories) will be removed from Apple Stores worldwide.
The change is to be implemented as soon as next week, with instructions for removal being deployed to Apple Store employees in the coming days. There is, as yet, no word on whether Bose products will also be removed from Apple’s e-store.
Apple’s acquisition of Beats encompasses both its hardware and Beats Audio music streaming service. Although it seems unlikely that Apple will remove other music services from its iOS app store to boost the Beats platform.
Therefore, this move may also be tied into an ongoing feud between Apple and Bose. Recently, Bose’s sponsorship of the NFL led to athletes not being able to wear Beats headphones whilst onscreen. Up until earlier today, Bose and Beats were also entangled in a patent dispute, with the former claiming infringement of five of its noise cancellation patents.
Apple has not confirmed the report regarding the removal of Bose products from its stores.
