Apple pulls Bose headphones from retail stores following lawsuit

The conflict between audio giant Bose and Apple escalated this week, even after a settlement was reached in the lawsuit between the two tech companies.

Bose headphones and speakers are no longer sold in Apple Stores, as the company has made the decision to not carry the brand either online or in brick-and-mortar storefronts. Industry analysts say that the move may come as retaliation for the highly-publicized court case between Bose and Apple company Beats Electronics, as Bose maintained Beats had violated Bose noise-cancellation technology patents.

The lawsuit was recently settled out of court for an undisclosed amount, but there has been plenty of bad blood between Bose and Beats. Bose has a major stake in the NFL as a primary sponsor, and part of that sponsorship agreement non-Bose headphones aren't permitted to be on camera during any NFL-related event. As a result, more than one NFL player has had to deal with disciplinary action for wearing a pair of Beats headphones on camera, culminating with a $10,000 fine for 49ers quarterback Colin Kapernick after he was seen wearing Beats headphones at a televised press conference.

Apple seemed to revel in the free publicity, especially with Apple employee and Beats co-founder Jimmy Iovine remarking to that effect specifically in the past. However, now that Apple owns the brand (which it purchased for a cool $3 billion), the company may have simply decided to promote its own products by eliminating a direct competitor from its own stores.

Despite this, Apple Stores still sell headphones from competing brands. No one has noticed that companies like S ennheiser, RHA, Urbanears and Bowers & Wilkins need to worry about their own products being forcibly removed from Apple Stores. Then again, none of these companies have cost Apple an undisclosed sum in settlement funds either.

However, some reports say that Apple will begin phasing out Fitbit products soon. The wearable fitness tech company has been reticent to adopt the new HealthKit platform developed by Apple, and some say the Cupertino company will be discontinuing its support for Fitbit product sales as a result.