Introduction
IntroductionHTC, the smartphone and tablet manufacturer, has taken a major step forward in the Human Resources department by hiring Scott Croyle, a former design director at Apple. Croyle is considered the “Jony Ive of HTC” and is the key to elevating HTC’s hardware design to the level of Apple’s design.
HTC hopes that with Croyle’s expertise, the company will produce better hardware with a more attractive design. In this article, we’ll discuss why HTC hired Croyle, his qualifications, and why his hiring could benefit the company.
Background of HTC and Beats
Founded in 1997, HTC is a Taiwanese consumer electronics company specializing in designing and producing mobile phones and tablets. Renowned for its innovation, HTC focuses on bringing cutting-edge ideas to market, backed by strong research and development capabilities that promote the development of highly efficient solutions. Its products are used worldwide, from emerging markets to developed economies, supported by global product marketing teams.
Beats was founded in 2006 by music producer and hip-hop artist Dr. Dre and record producer Jimmy Iovine. The company quickly rose to prominence with its premium headphones line, but has since ventured into other audio solutions such as speakers and streaming services. In August 2014, Apple purchased Beats Electronics for a reported $3 billion — further validating the success of this innovative audio brand. Before the acquisition, HTC held 25% of Beats’ stake (of which it sold 12%) before parting ways post-Apple deal. For Beats’ part, they largely credit their success to Iovine’s role as VP of Design at HTC during its meteoric rise in 2010-2013
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Sources HTC Croyle Beatshall9to5mac, Hiring HTC’s ‘Jony Ive’ to Elevate Beats Hardware Design
Hiring of HTC’s ‘Jony Ive’, Croyle Beatshall, is part of an effort by Beats Electronics to further elevate their hardware design capabilities. The move comes after Apple’s head of Industrial Design, Sir Jony Ive, parted ways with the company in June 2019. Croyle helped developed several lauded devices for HTC such as the HTC One series and Vive virtual reality headset.
Croyle joined Beats Electronics in November and is now reported to be helping them on several hardware projects that the company has been working on behind the scenes. The details specific to those projects remain under wraps but he will likely help drive forward their production efforts and develop a more cohesive design style across their product line-up.
The move highlights Beats Electronics’ effort to focus more intensely on its product range, prioritizing audio quality alongside sleek and modern design aesthetics. It also follows years of market speculation about potential new products from the consumer electronics brand including headphones, earbuds, speakers and streaming music services. With iconic industry veterans now at their helm, fans can expect some important announcements from Beats Electronics shortly.
HTC’s Design Chief
HTC has hired Croyle Beatshall as its new design chief, sometimes called the ‘Jony Ive of the East’.
Beatshall is joining the company to help elevate the design of Beats products to a higher level and help them stand out in the competitive consumer electronics market.
Croyle’s design experience
HTC’s new Design Chief, Scott Croyle has some impressive experience in product design. Over the past two decades, he has worked for audio hardware companies HARMAN Kardon, Creative and Bose. However, his greatest success was at HTC’s predecessor One & Co where he spent five years as a lead designer. He is widely credited with creating award-winning products like the Sense Home and Go Phone lines of mobile devices. During his five-year tenure, he won several awards from leading design organizations including IDEA Gold Medal for Mechanical Design and Core77 Industrial Design Excellence Awards (IDEA).
He also took part in helping create Beats Audio products before Apple acquired it in 2014. In addition, according to his profile on LinkedIn, he worked on the company’s “best-selling headphones and speakers in terms of raw unit volume” during that time. These experiences make him particularly suited to shape HTC’s future product designs.
Croyle’s impact on HTC’s design
The appointment of Scott Croyle as HTC’s VP of design has been widely seen as the Taiwanese (TPE) phone maker’s attempt to transform itself into a high-end phone brand. For years, it has struggled to break away from its image as a budget device maker and gain traction with the latest cutting-edge smartphone technology. Croyle, who gained renown for his contributions to Apple’s mobile design team under legendary designer Jony Ive, is set to bring his knowledge and expertise to the table at HTC.
As part of its efforts to regain ground in a highly competitive market, HTC is looking for ways to improve its overall design language. As head of design, Croyle will be responsible for revamping existing products and services to create a compelling look that catches consumers’ attention and makes them think ‘HTC’ when they want a new phone. This includes providing vision and direction on how products should look and feel, working closely with engineering teams to ensure that vision translates into actual products, leading collaboration with outside partners/vendors/contractors involved in product development, researching trends and technological advances in hardware design, planning hardware releases around major industry events like Mobile World Congress (MWC). He will also participate in strategic planning meetings on product development strategies with company executives.
By tapping into Croyle’s experience and creative insight honed during his time at Apple Inc., HTC hopes it will be able elevate its hardware designs beyond current market standards – setting itself apart from other competitors by producing aesthetically inspiring devices that push the envelope forward on device form factors.
Beats’ Design Direction
Beats, the beloved headphone producer, has been making moves to enhance their hardware design and recently announced hiring HTC’s ‘Jony Ive’, Croyle Schuller. Mr. Schuller is a renowned designer, who will be charged with taking Beats’ product design to the next level.
Let’s delve into the design direction that Beats is planning to pursue.
Beats’ plan to elevate hardware design
According to a report from 9to5mac, Beats Electronics has hired former HTC senior designer Alexander Wang, who was closely involved with designing many of their most popular devices. Wang is now responsible for driving hardware design “in the direction of high-end lifestyle products” at Beats.
Beats’ recent successes in the headphones market have spurred them to look beyond just sound quality and into the design pedigree of their products. As such, they have assembled a team with mobile, lifestyle and audio technology expertise to develop products with increased aesthetic value to appeal to a wider range of customers.
Wang joins the Beats team as Senior Industrial Designer and will directly report to Beats’ COO Alexander Clark. In his previous role at HTC, his most memorable creations were said to be the HTC One phones and he also played a part in developing three mid-range series – Wildfire, Windows Phone 8X/8XC and Desire – among many others.
With experience in creating top tier devices under his belt, consumers can expect Wang’s designs for Beats to add more utility on top of already excellent sound quality provided by its products. This could potentially elevate Beats as a go-to option among discerning audiophiles and any consumer looking for a lifestyle product that doesn’t compromise on style or comfortability.
Croyle’s role in Beats’ design
HTC has hired Scott Croyle, “Jony Ive” of HTC, to elevate Beats’ hardware design. According to sources close to HTC, this new hire signals HTC’s commitment to designing and manufacturing higher-end consumer electronics of the same caliber as Apple and other high-profile consumer electronics companies.
Before arriving at Beats, Croyle served in two key executive roles at HTC. First, he served as a Vice President of Design from December 2009 until early 2012. He later took on the responsibility for strategic product planning as a corporate vice president at the company in early 2014. At HTC, he received several awards for his design work on products like the M7 smartphone, tablets and wearables.
Croyle brings exceptional experience with design that allows him to stand out among other designers in the industry and is seen by many as the creative force behind some of HTC’s best products. With the experience, skillset and background that Croyle brings with him to Beats, we should expect to see new designs that push boundaries in terms of form factor and overall user experience. As such, it will be interesting to see just how much impact Croyle’s involvement with Beats has within consumer electronics.
HTC’s and Beats’ Future
It has been reported that HTC has hired ex-Apple executive, Scott Croyle, to elevate the design of Beats hardware. This hiring is exciting as HTC and Beats have recently acquired one another. With an experienced designer like Croyle, both companies may be poised to reach new heights in their respective markets.
Let’s take a closer look at the potential implications of this move.
HTC’s potential to benefit from Croyle’s hire
HTC’s potential to benefit from hiring former Apple designer Scott Croyle could be huge. It has been reported that Croyle was hired in a bid to elevate Beats hardware design, bringing it closer in line with the “Apple-style” design language that is so popular. HTC bought a majority stake in Beats Electronics last year and will be looking to benefit from improved product design by utilising Croyle’s expertise. As well as a potential increase in product sales, HTC also benefits from a boost in brand recognition and appeal.
Croyle was previously the senior vice president of design at HTC and has experience working on iconic mobile phones such as the One series. He left Apple earlier this year but his work with them spanned nearly two decades and he is credited for creating both the iPod Classic and Nano designs. His experience and deep knowledge of designing iconic products could prove invaluable to Beats under its new joint venture between Apple, Verizon, Polycom and Dell partnerships.
It remains to be seen what new designs would come out of this partnership but one thing is certain – if it succeeds, it could increase revenues for both Beats and HTC while also boosting public recognition of their respective brands.
Beats’ potential to benefit from Croyle’s hire
The recent hiring of HTC’s former design chief Scott Croyle to the Beats team has potential to be a major asset for the future success of Beats. Croyle is best known for his work with HTC and the successful creation of designs like the HTC One and Desire. In addition, he has extensive experience in product design and engineering, signifying that he has what it takes to lead Beats to new heights.
Although focussed on music products, Beats has also entered the headphone business. Croyle brings an expertise that may take their current offerings to another level regarding overall quality within both consumer segments – headphones and streaming music services. In addition, his hire could potentially elevate Beats hardware design elements, allowing them to stay ahead of competition from companies such as Apple, Bose and Audio-Technica.
Croyle will now have direct access top decision makers within Beats as he was hired directly by Jimmy Iovine and Dr Dre—two of Beats’ founders—indicating that his hire is an important part of their plan to deliver polished devices backed by excellent sound quality. Combining these key aspects may help Beatles become a household name amongst top audio companies. This will likely open up new opportunities for them across multiple markets including home audio, automotive audio systems, and more.
Conclusion
The hire of HTC’s formerly-leading designer, Croyle, is strong evidence that Beats is hoping to up the quality of its hardware efforts. While it remains unclear what products the company plans to release, a series of high quality devices produced by the same group behind some of HTC’s best devices could be an exciting development for fans of stylish technology hardware.
At this point it’s anyone’s guess as to what to expect from Croyle and co over at Beats, but some high quality headphones or even Bluetooth speakers wouldn’t surprise us.