On May 8, news broke that Apple (AAPL 2.31%) is in the late stages of negotiations to acquire Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine's Beats Electronics for $3.2 billion. The news was quite a surprise to investors. Not only is $3.2 billion eight times the price of Apple's largest acquisition to date, but this is also the first time the company has acquired such a well-known brand. Even more, Bloomberg is reporting that Apple plans to keep the brand around after the acquisition.
As Fool technology specialist Daniel Sparks explains in the video below, such a move could signal that Apple is opening up to a broader conglomerate strategy. With the Street concerned with Apple's slowing revenue and net income growth, buying into new business opportunities could help Apple address this problem.
