Forrester Research reported on Monday that an analysis of Apple’s credit card sales showed that iPods are no longer driving iTunes sales. Another site interpreted this as iTunes sales “collapsing.” However, Blackfriars’ Marketing took a look on Tuesday at cumulative iPod and iTunes Store sales and concluded that the Forrester analyst may not have done his math correctly. Data provided by Blackfriars’ shows that iTunes sales continue to grow exponentially.
Public statements by Apple were collected by Forrester in addition to a sampling of credit card data. Forrester’s research and the analysis is strongly at odds with the Blackfriars’ own analysis based on known sales numbers and some basic logarithmic analysis.
With so much at stake in the on-line music business, and so many sites picking up on the original Forrester report it’s a good sign that, after a day or so of Internet reflection, additional analysis has emerged.