I don't believe people are actually confounded by this acquisition. The headphones are wildly profitable and the Beats brand is incredibly strong. This deal is easily justifiable.

Just grabbing some headlines from Google News:

http://www.cnet.com/news/why-does-apple-want-beats-no-one-re...

> analysts are puzzled by the choice

http://www.latimes.com/business/technology/la-fi-tn-reaction...

> We are struggling to see the rationale behind this move

http://business.financialpost.com/2014/05/12/apple-inc-beats...

> It’s a head scratcher

http://www.bbc.com/news/business-27336863

> This is really puzzling... They must have something hidden under the hood

Seems like those days, if they haven't received press release and a press package the only thing analyst can say is that they are puzzled.

Thankfully in a few weeks it will be time for the annual batch of rumour about the next iPhone. That has been almost a year since the last article predicting the 5in iPhone and the iWatch.

The second article says it all: these are initial reactions.

I believe the sentiment has changed drastically since the deal's first announcement (at least it has among sites and blogs I frequent).

If it was company X that was doing the acquisition, no one would care too much. It's the Apple involvement that makes it confounding, since Apple doesn't do acquisitions of this sort. They don't buy brands, they buy tech or people.

I can't think of a single headphone business that is anywhere near Beats. The headphones are crap, they used to be relabeled Monster headphones, for example. It doesn't matter. The brand is successful. Coco-Cola is just sugar water, it's the brand that makes the money. Same here. There aren't other equivalent brands they could purchase.