Apple is considering a $3.2 billion acquisition of Beats Electronics, a California firm founded by rapper Dr. Dre and which makes products including headphones, news reports said.
A deal could be reached as early as next week, but the talks could also drag on, the New York Times said.
The Financial Times said Apple would buy not only the Dr. Dre brand of headphones but also the music streaming service that Beats Electronics launched recently. It is known as Beats Music.
The deal valued by both newspapers at $3.2 billion would mark the biggest acquisition ever carried out by Apple.
Dr Dre overtook Jay Z on Forbes’ list of the richest hip hop artists after his Beats by Dre headphones company made $1.2 billion last year.
