WorldWide Tech & Science. Francisco De Jesús.
HTC’s Beats in talks to acquire subscription music service MOG.
HTC is reportedly in talks to acquire subscription music service MOG, via its Beats Electronics arm.
The move would enable the handset maker to bolster the cloud services proposition it offers alongside its smartphones, which already includes a multimedia service called HTC Watch, and its latest One devices are also bundled with cloud storage services from partner Dropbox.
According to Reuters, Beats has been holding talks with MOG for some time, and a deal could be announced “within the next fortnight.”
MOG apparently has more than 500,000 active users, and has raised US$33 million in funding. A possible purchase price was not suggested.
HTC has made a number of acquisitions designed to bolster its content and services capabilities, with Peter Chou, its CEO, stating in an interview that smartphone vendors need to offer “a holistic experience of hardware, software and content.”
In addition to acquiring a controlling stake in Beats, the company has also invested in (among others) Japanese music service provider Kkbox, cloud gaming company OnLive, and content delivery company Saffron Digital.
