How it is made: Fake and real Beats by Dre

Most recently, we talked about Ben Einstein’s investigation into the cost of Beats by Dre components. This time, he took apart Beats Solo HD, bought on Amazon and Target. Let's see what came of it.

As we wrote earlier, multimillion-dollar headphone sales require serious production optimization, but Ben was able to show the difference between factory parts and fake ones. For example, if the original Beats have a metallic film on the diaphragm , fake ones do not.

Other differences are similar: metal plates on cups against colored plastic. The metal plate serves as a wear-resistant decorative element and adds $ 0.50 to the cost of materials.

Ben says that the cost of one driver for the original Beats headphones ( AS03608MR-5-R ) is $ 1.50 if you buy a batch of 10 thousand copies.

The hypothesis that the impressive weight of the headphones translates into integrity and reliability, but is not provided from a functional point of view, was confirmed. Metal hinges are attached to plastic parts, which transmit the force when folding and unfolding the headphones. By the way, metal inserts on the headband are decorative.

Ben notices that the original Beats use stainless steel. The process for casting stainless steel parts is similar to the zinc casting process, but it requires more expensive tooling and more production steps.

Anything can be faked: from FTDI-chips under Windows to capsules for a coffee machine, and this is just the tip of the iceberg. This harms companies both at the pre-production stage and during the production itself. Counterfeiting products such as Beats headphones, where brand fees account for most of the cost, have a significant impact on the level of sales of original products.