Monster may come to regret suing Beats Music, with Apple reportedly having revoked Monsters authority to create licensed Apple products.
According to Monster, Apple is bullying it out of iOS licensing programs, claiming that Apple revoked Monsters agreement due to the Beats lawsuit.
"It shows a side of Apple that consumers don't see very often," said David Tognotti, Monster General Manager, Vice President of Operations and General Counsel. "Apple can be a bully."
Monster's complaint against Beats music says that Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine, Beats co-founders, inched Monster out of manufacturing Beats headphones as Beats' deal with Apple became more likely, resulting in Monster not getting proceeds that it may have gotten through the $3 billion sale. This is allegedly an issue because of a change-of-ownership clause triggered when beats bought back shares from HTC, called a "sham transaction" by Monster.
Monster says that Apple ending the licensing deal will significantly disrupt its business, with around 900 of its 4,000 products being a part of Apple's MFi, or Made for iPhone / iPod / iPad deal. Not only that but the company has reportedly paid over $12 million in licensing fees since it first started released MFi licensed products in 2005.
Most of Monster's licensed products are cables and car chargers, however it does make other products too. Monster has long been criticized for overpricing its items, being partly enabled to do this through its licensing programs. While the company will continue to sell licensed products for now, the deal will run out in September. As a result, Monster will have to change the packaging and redesign a number of its products.
Monster is likely to continue to argue that Apple is taking things too far, especially since Apple only inherited the battle through its purchasing of Beats. Not only that, but Monster argues that Apple continues to work with companies that it has battled in court, particularly Samsung. Apple uses Samsung's factories to create the chips found in the iPhone and other Apple products.
The news comes shortly after Apple announced its new music streaming service, made possible through its acquisition of Beats. The service, dubbed Apple Music, will not only allow users to stream music, but it will also offer a free 24/7 radio station called BeatsOne, which will be run by BBC Radio DJ Zane Lowe.
The news also comes after details about Apple's deals with record labels were released, revealing that the company would not be paying labels and independent artists for music streamed during the 30-day trial-period.
