Consumers are spending more than ever before on headphones. But what makes premium audio so expensive and does spending so much money make much of a difference? Smartphone manufacturer HTC is paying $309m (£190m) for a 51% stake in Beats Electronics, the company best known for its high-end headphones and partnership with rapper Dr Dre.Despite the electronics market being heavily hit by economic uncertainty, the most recent figures show that headphones are still showing 24% year-on-year growth in volume."
