GristyMcFisty used our news submit to tell us that the computer maker, Apple is about to unleash the long-awaited Windows-compatible version of its online music service. The Macintosh based iTunes version has been wildly popular, indicating that at least in RISC circles folks are hungry for digital downloads. The question is, can they repeat this success in the PC world without that Mac loyalty to back it up? Also, the online sales market is getting a little crowded.
Yet now, some analysts say that while iTunes for Windows may be just the thing for fans, it may be coming too late for the broader market. There are already similar services for Windows users, such as MusicMatch, already entrenched and another called BuyMusic.com. File-swapping service Napster has resurrected itself as a pay service, now under a parent company, Roxio Inc. .
A MusicMatch spokeswoman said it was unclear how the Windows version of Apple's online music store would affect its relationship with the Mac maker. "We were partners (with Apple) but always expected we would one day be competitors once they launched the iTunes download service," a MusicMatch spokeswoman said. "MusicMatch jukebox will continue to support iPod, but it's up to Apple to decide if they'll ship IPOD with MusicMatch jukebox. It's totally in their hands at this point." |
The Yahoo
article goes on to quote Dan Niles, an analyst at Lehman Brothers, who estimates that Apple has sold 303,000 iPod digital music players in the June quarter at an average price of 365 dollars each, up from 78,000 in the March quarter, apparently a result of the popularity of the iTunes service. On an interesting side note however, the iTunes service was only operating at a break even point for it's first full operating quarter.
Source: news.yahoo.com
