HP has announced a new partnership to bring technology from high-end audio purveyor Bang & Olufsen to its range of PCs and tablets, replacing its existing accord with Apple-owned Beats
From this spring, new HP devices like the Spectre and Envy computers and Pavilion tablets will be fitted with B&O Play branded audio tech. HP’s range of PC accessories, including headphones, will also feature the B&O logo.
B&O will custom tune HP’s devices, while it’ll also help to deliver clearer sounds by isolating audio circuitry. It’s not clear yet whether B&O will produce high quality amplifiers for HP gadgets, but the computing firm is planning on creating an audio control panel to help users manually tinker with the audio experience.
The deal with the Danish audio giant replaces HP’s existing accord with Beats, which is now owned by Apple, one of the company’s chief rivals in the computing space.
According to a CNET report, it was Apple that decided to halt the partnership, although Cupertino is yet to make an official comment.
Read more: B&O BeoPlay H6 headphones review
Regardless of who initiated the split, it comes as HP struggles to arrest the slide of desktop PCs and laptops, while Apple’s Mac and MacBook ranges continue to see year-on-year sales increases.
“We’ve certainly spent a lot of time working on audio with Beats over the years. I think certainly a lot of learnings both ways in that relationship,” Mike Nash, a HP VP told reporters on Tuesday.
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Beats Audio tech will still appear within HP products for the rest of the year, but it’ll be all B&O thereafter.
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
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We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.