Apple has already sold one million videos on the iTunes Music Store in the 20 days since the October 12 debut, suggesting a strong market for legal video downloads. Videos cost US$1.99 each, and currently there are over 2,000 music videos, along with short films from Pixar, and television shows from ABC and Disney.
Apple CEO Steve Jobs said in a statement, “Our next challenge is to broaden our content offerings, so that customers can enjoy watching more videos on their computers and new iPods.”
Currently, the selection of television shows is limited, but that’s likely to change soon. ABC is negotiating to expand its offerings beyond Desperate Housewives, Lost, and Night Stalker. Other networks may show interest, too, now that Apple can show viewers are willing to pay for downloadable programming.
The iTMS is available for Mac and Windows personal computers and works exclusively with Apple’s line of iPod digital media devices. iTMS now operates in 21 countries. In the U.S., the service features more than two million songs, and more than 11,000 audiobooks.
| iTunes Music Store Key Dates | |
|---|---|
| April 28, 2003 | Apple Launches iTunes Music Store |
| May 6, 2003 | One million songs sold on iTMS |
| May 14, 2003 | Two million songs sold on iTMS |
| June 23, 2003 | Five million songs sold on iTMS |
| September 8, 2003 | Ten million songs sold on iTMS |
| October 16, 2003 | Apple & Pepsi launch giveaway of 100 million free songs |
| October 20, 2003 | One million copies of iTunes for Windows downloaded in less than four days |
| November 6, 2003 | 1.5 million songs sold on iTMS in one week |
| December 15, 2003 | 25 million songs sold on iTMS |
| March 15, 2004 | 50 million songs sold on iTMS |
| April 28, 2004 | Over 70 million songs sold on iTMS |
| May 5, 2004 | 3.3 million songs sold on iTMS in one week |
| June 15, 2004 | Apple launches iTMS in UK, France & Germany |
| June 23, 2004 | iTMS in Europe sells 800,000 songs in first week |
| July 12, 2004 | 100 million songs sold on iTMS |
| August 10, 2004 | iTMS catalog tops one million songs |
| October 14, 2004 | 150 million songs sold on iTMS |
| October 26, 2004 | Apple launches iTMS in Austria, Belgium, Finland, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal and Spain |
| November 30, 2004 | Apple launches iTMS in Canada |
| December 16, 2004 | 200 million songs sold on iTMS |
| January 6, 2005 | Apple launches iTMS in Ireland |
| January 24, 2005 | 250 million songs sold on iTMS | March 2, 2005 | 300 million songs sold on iTMS |
| April 13, 2005 | 350 million songs sold on iTMS |
| Apple launches iTMS in Denmark, Norway, Sweden & Switzerland | |
| May 10, 2005 | 400 million songs sold on iTMS |
| July 17, 2005 | 500 million songs sold on iTMS |
| August 4, 2005 | Apple launches iTMS in Japan |
| August 8, 2005 | 1 million songs sold on iTMS Japan in first four days |
| October 19, 2005 | Apple launches iTMS in Australia |
| October 21, 2005 | 1 million videos sold on iTMS in less than 20 days |