Kaj Christiansen <kajc@ofir.dk> wrote:
> sakset fra:
> <
http://www.macworld.com/news/2004/09/29/euroitunes/index.php>
og de har sakset fra Reuter:
<
http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=6367450
>
Apple Plans EU Expansion of iTunes Next Month
Wed 29 September, 2004 16:59
By Bernhard Warner, European Internet Correspondent
BERLIN (Reuters) - Apple Computer is planning the next wave of expansion
for its popular iTunes online music store with a multi-country European
launch in October, the services chief architect said on Wednesday.
"We are well on pace to launch more EU stores. We will do it next
month," Eddie Cue, Apples vice president of applications told music
executives at the annual Popkomm conference in the German capital.
In typical Apple style, the computer maker gave scant details of the
hotly anticipated launch. He told reporters on the sidelines it would
likely include more than five new countries in the next wave of stores.
"It will cover a good portion of Western Europe," he said of the launch,
but declined to elaborate.
Operating in Britain, France, Germany and the United States, iTunes has
sold over 125 million downloads. While it has been a runaway hit in the
United States and Britain, it has had a relatively tougher time in
continental Europe, where online piracy runs rampant.
Europe's notoriously cumbersome red tape and the multiplicity of
languages have also made it a tougher market to crack. And Apple
acknowledged on Wednesday it is having difficulty sourcing local
repertoire from the music labels in some countries.
CROWDED MARKET
Cracking the likes of Italy and the Netherlands, two top-10 music
markets, is a major piece of the expansion strategy for online download
services such as Apple and its rival services from Sony Corp, Microsoft
Corp and Napster.
Analysts say overcoming some of the institutional hurdles will keep
download sales for Europe well below the United States in the next few
years, a disheartening realization for record companies anxious to see a
proliferation of industry-backed stores derail file-sharing networks
like Kazaa and WinMX.
Cue said the file-sharing networks remain Apples biggest competitor. But
through a series of partnerships with Hewlett-Packard, BMW and Motorola,
the company is expanding its customer base of iTunes and installed base
of both iPod music devices.
"There is a six-month waiting list at some BMW dealers in the U.S. to
install iPods," he said referring to an arrangement where BMW owners can
have their iPod player plug into their car stereo.
"You'll see more from us here," he said of the iTunes partnership plans.
Cue also took the opportunity to challenge the music industry to develop
new music formats that cater to the download generation including
releasing for sale studio out-takes, live recordings and albums with
three or four tracks.
"We shouldn't have to wait every 18 months for an artist to come out
with a new release. Now you have opportunities to release new tracks
more often," he said.
/Preben
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