Beats also has a murky future. The company will surely continue to license its brand out, but who will make headphones is unclear. It just so happens to be majority owned by HTC and HTC just so happens to be a manufacturer of consumer electronics. Even if HTC and Beats don't decide to go down that road, you can be sure that given the amount of money and marketshare that Beats has managed to snatch up, they'll find a way to ensure that there are many many more Beats-branded headphones to come.