Apple Inc is close to paying a record $3.2 billion for Beats Electronics, two people with knowledge of the matter said, an expensive foray into music streaming and headphone gear that would mark a departure for the usually cash-conservative iPhone maker.Both companies are hashing out details and the envisioned deal could still fall through, one person told Reuters on condition of anonymity because the discussions were private.A second source familiar with the matter told Reuters that Apple was in the market for a subscription-based music service to complement its "iRadio" ad-based offering, launched in 2013 as part of an attempt to jump into a music-streaming arena then split between a handful of startups such as Pandora Inc.Founded by rapper Dr. Dre and legendary music producer Jimmy Iovine, Beats Electronics is best known for its "Beats by Dr Dre" line of trendy headphones that vie with the likes of Skullcandy Inc, Sennheiser Electronic and Bose Corp. This year, it launched a music service that has won plaudits for its slick design and human music curation, versus the computer-algorithms that determine playlists for most of its rivals.
Apple Inc. (Apple) designs, manufactures and markets mobile communication and media devices, personal computers, and portable digital music players, and a variety of related software, services, peripherals, networking solutions, and third-party digital content and applications. Shares of AAPL fell by 0.92% or $-5.42/share to $582.57. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $388.87 and as high as $604.41. On average, 9903560 shares of AAPL exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 5637021.
Skullcandy, Inc. is a designer, marketer and distributor of performance audio and gaming headphones and other accessory related products under the Skullcandy, Astro Gaming and 2XL by Skullcandy brands. Shares of SKUL traded higher by 4.52% or $0.31/share to $7.17. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $4.90 and as high as $11.40. On average, 740066 shares of SKUL exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 372840.
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