Monster CEO Noel Lee weighed in Monday on the...

Monster CEO Noel Lee weighed in Monday on the widely reported, but not yet substantiated, report of Apple’s buying Beats Electronics. Lee told Consumer Electronics Daily in an email that his reaction was “one of shock and delight” upon hearing the reports and took some credit at the same time “as the engine that started Beats.” Monster and Beats had a five-year partnership that ended in 2012 when the two companies decided to part ways, after capturing more than 50 percent of a billion-dollar headphone market at the time. Beats reportedly opted out of a renewal, with Bloomberg Businessweek reporting that “the relationship turned sour over financial terms, with divergent views on which side deserves the most credit for the line’s success.” Lee told us he was surprised by the reported $3.2 billion valuation of the reported Apple-Beats deal “as there are very few enterprises in our business that are worth that kind of money.” Lee said “most of the current [Beats] product was designed and manufactured by us,” so in crunching the numbers, he said, “we know that the multiples just don’t work. However if you can get it, take it!” On how the relationship might affect current headphone makers, including Monster, currently sold through Apple stores, Lee said, “Apple is an important retailer, but not that large by world standards.” He said it would be “out of character” for Apple to change its mix to favor Beats’ products “and put other headphone companies at a competitive disadvantage.” As for the percentage of Monster sales through Apple distribution, Lee said “very few” of its products are sold through Apple stores and that it gets more support from other retailers. Monster is looking for Apple to adopt upcoming products that Lee said are “higher end, technologically more advanced and are more expensive.” Lee also said none of the products sold on the Monster website has “any of the technology we designed for Beats seven years ago,” and Monster has moved on to technologies that allow listeners to “get closer to the music.” On Monster Music, a label of high-end CDs Lee launched a number of years ago, he told us, “It’s hard to make money selling music, when the consumer expectation is to get it for free.” While Monster would like to do more of it, “unfortunately retail and consumer support is not out there.”