Quality of product is unimportant. Vast market of "gullible fools" proves this.
Currently there are a lot of different headphones that have very similar specs - I suspect that some company is mass producing drivers and other companies are iust putting these into fashion shells and selling them at large profit. (WESC is an example of a company that I think is doing this).
In this market - not very good headphones sold with large profits to people who care more about looks than sound quality - Beats headphones is exciting buy.
Don't forget that many people will be listening to poor quality source material - poorly ripped; weird dynamic compression; etc.
Apple's market, however, is not gullible fools. They produce quality products that do not lie about their quality. This authenticity and quality is key to their success.
I was downvoted for a snarky comment about having to replace Beats if they were provided as the standard quality for iPhones in particular. OK that's fair. But with what I believe to have been Job's fastidious attention to quality, I find it difficult to understand how he would have accepted the sound quality. The branding issue has a certain, even large value, but there's also the loss of reputation for quality that using what are objectively poor quality sound reproducers will I think bring, to consider as well.
The quality of the audio electronics in iPhones is quite alright. The iPhone's have measured well and sound quite OK given the limitations on space and power. The standard earbuds provided with them are poor quality though, and as an electronics engineer, audio engineer, and musician I would be quite disappointed if Apple allowed this sound reproduction shortcoming to persist. Monster Turbines like the Copper Pro are substantially better than Beats, so upgrading quality might happen, and what I say will be irrelevant.
I want Apple to continue to strive for excellence in quality, and not to let that focus lapse if concentrating on branding and market share.
My first ever downvoted comment alluded to the fact that my iphone earbuds were never used and collected dust in a drawer. The first pair I had with an iPod were quickly replaced by cheap AKG's costing about $7, and the pair in the drawer I gave to a lady customer in an apple store who I overheard asking about them. I arranged to give them to her for free. No use wasting them really.
The iPod and iPhone earbuds seem to me to be an anomaly. They are one of the few areas where it appeared style trumped substance. I can get similar Chinese knockoffs for about a dollar from different places. The cirrus chips and surrounding electronics in the iPhone, and Wolfson's in some iPods are quite capable musically.
My point is more about the legend of Jobs the perfectionist that I've heard so much about in these and other pages. If he were to turn his attention to the earbuds and headphones then I find it incongruous that he would have let the reputation of mediocrity with the Beats sound rest unopposed.
I myself see this as a slide away from innovation.
Currently there are a lot of different headphones that have very similar specs - I suspect that some company is mass producing drivers and other companies are iust putting these into fashion shells and selling them at large profit. (WESC is an example of a company that I think is doing this).
In this market - not very good headphones sold with large profits to people who care more about looks than sound quality - Beats headphones is exciting buy.
Don't forget that many people will be listening to poor quality source material - poorly ripped; weird dynamic compression; etc.