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Feb 26, 08 - 10:18 am Comment from: MikeK

Over 1000 movies by the end of the month?

It's already Feb 26th, and there are still only less than 400.

very cool

Feb 26, 08 - 10:21 am Comment from: Jubei

How many songs, movies and TV shows were sold with the Zune Marketwhatever store?

Feb 26, 08 - 10:22 am Comment from: Spark

Yeah, they're going to have a tough time reaching 1000 movies by month's end. I guess they are counting on leap day to provide the extra time they need.

Feb 26, 08 - 10:25 am Comment from: Spark

Apple now has the world's largest music catalog. Just slowly take that in, and then let it sooth your nerves as you continue to hear complaints of Apple's meager movie selection, and how the service and TV are doomed. They same was said about iTunes Store when it launched.

April 2003-Feb 2006 one billion sold (34 months)

Feb 2007-Jan 2007 next one billion sold (11 months)

Jan 2007-July 2007 next one billion sold (6 months)

July 2007-Feb 2008 next one billion sold (6 months)

Amazing story. Hope it hasn't reached a plateau

Feb 26, 08 - 10:28 am Comment from: gzero

Zune Tang,

and exactly how many songs were sold in the Zune Marketplace until now? I'm sure you bought at least 10 of the 25 Tracks sold...

Feb 26, 08 - 10:31 am Comment from: MacBill

So cool for Apple!! It's actually a shame that WalMart is #1, because they only sell crappy mainstream music. Apple is the only music retailer who actually sells the LARGEST VARIETY of music out there.

Feb 26, 08 - 10:31 am Comment from: John

Just think how much better the selection is than at WalMart, which sells mostly JUNK (and censored at that). Go iTMS!

Feb 26, 08 - 10:33 am Comment from: G4Dualie

Five years from now no one will care that Apple only had 400 movies available at the end of February.

When iTunes Store was renamed, it debuted with 75 feature films and they now have 400 and it's only been 18 months!

MikeK sees the glass half-empty.

Feb 26, 08 - 10:40 am Comment from: ken1w

> It's already Feb 26th, and there are still only less than 400.

That's right, it's Feb 26th, not Feb 29th. Stop whining...

> with an incredible 20 million songs sold on Christmas Day 2007 alone

It's incredible that the iTunes infrastructure did not have a meltdown serving up 20 million song files in 24 hours.

Does anyone else think iTunes needs an overhaul in terms of where to store things?

For example, I like to have my music on my laptop all the time, but I have my movies on an external HD.

iTunes needs new Preferences:

Store my Movies:

Store my Music:

Anyone agree?

Feb 26, 08 - 10:49 am Comment from: shen

Spark, that was well said. seriously people, reread it....

"Apple now has the world's largest music catalog. Just slowly take that in, and then let it sooth your nerves as you continue to hear complaints of Apple's meager movie selection, and how the service and TV are doomed. They same was said about iTunes Store when it launched."

some things take time, but Apple never rests. in 9 months or so the same people complaining about the small catalog will be the ones proudly pointing out how they were "early adopters" of "that whole AppleTV thing."

Feb 26, 08 - 10:50 am Comment from: MikeK

"MikeK sees the glass half-empty."

----------------------------

Umm no, MikeK doesn't see the glass "half-empty." MikeK is just reading the press release issued by Apple and is pointing out that there are only 3 days left in the month for Apple to update it's movie selection to the stated "1000 movies by the end of February."

Feb 26, 08 - 10:51 am Comment from: Jasenpfeffer

Don't forget:

August 5, 2005: Available in Japan

Feb 26, 08 - 10:51 am Comment from: MikeK

"That's right, it's Feb 26th, not Feb 29th. Stop whining..."

--------------------

Who's whining? Certainly not MikeK.

Feb 26, 08 - 10:59 am Comment from: DogGone

@ sheep register

It was beginning Jan 07 to end of July 07 - Thats 7 full months

Still the next billion was achieved in 6 months, which clearly indicates a plateauing in growth.

I still have 20 bucks in my account but really am not too sure what to buy. I'm going to have to look more closely at indie work because I'm kinda bored what I hear.

Also Apple need to figure out better ways to get people turned on to music. Song tagging would be ideal and an HD radio add-on would work for me, so that I could listen to music in the car and tag what I like. However if the stations just play the same old stuff none of us will pick up new music.

iTunes growth is exponential.

i keep my mouth shut ...

Feb 26, 08 - 11:01 am Comment from: gzero

I bet once Apple drops the price of the current iPhone (For the record: I personally do not believe that Apple will introduce an iPhone "nano". I think they will keep the current iPhone with a slight case mod starting at $199, and a 3G model at the current $399 - $499 prices. That is how they will get to 10 million iPhone sales in 2008), iTunes will become the #1 music retailer within the next 9 months.

Feb 26, 08 - 11:04 am Comment from: DavidO

To me, the most wonderful aspect of the store is iTunes U. I don't know if it's a money maker, but to me it shows how Apple helps us broaden our lives. No other company comes close.

aah, i can't keep silent, i have to say something negativ: the problem with these numbers is that they indicate that the days of growth for the music-store are over. the same day-average now, for about one year now. there is room for growth in movies and tv-shows though if there would be a decent ...

Feb 26, 08 - 11:10 am Comment from: Ampar

Maybe MikeK wants to see "The Glass Menagerie".

Feb 26, 08 - 11:11 am Comment from: Ampar

"there is room for growth in movies and tv-shows though if there would be a decent ..."

And there's always room for growth in porn.

Feb 26, 08 - 11:13 am Comment from: MikeK

"the problem with these numbers is that they indicate that the days of growth for the music-store are over."

------------------------

No, I disagree, there was a new 20m songs sold record set on Christmas day, plus, they are still selling a ton of new iPods, iPhones and Apple Tv's.

Even with all this talk of slowing iPod sales, they are still expected to sell 10 million units this quarter..

iTunes is still growing strong.

Feb 26, 08 - 11:15 am Comment from: MikeK

"Maybe MikeK wants to see "The Glass Menagerie".

--------------------

Ampar, you've got me figured out!

Feb 26, 08 - 11:17 am Comment from: Zune Tang®

The future of music retailing is in subscriptions. You get unlimited music for a low monthly price. More is always better. MAC lemmings are the only suckers who purchase music. Whatever. Is that 'N Sync track so timeless that you want it occupying precious disk space 20 years from now? Okay, bad example. Of course you want 'N Sync music around forever, but I think you get my idea.

Microsoft's wonderful Zune Marketplace doesn't use currency—they use points which is more fun than currency. Stodgy old Apple hasn't figured this out yet but I expect them to copy Microsoft in this regard. Again. So in the case of Zune Marketplace a small amount of points are deducted monthly from your account. It's like a game when you use points. Using money is boring. I-Tunes has met its match.

Your potential. Our passion.™

mikeK, just do the math:
2-3 billion songs: 7 month
3-4 billion songs: 7 month

Feb 26, 08 - 11:30 am Comment from: MikeK

"mikeK, just do the math:"

---------------

Understood, my point is there are still hundreds or thousands of new iTunes accounts being created every month.. iPhone sales alone are going to be responsible for millions of new accounts, so is Apple TV and the 40-50 million new iPods that will be sold this year.

Feb 26, 08 - 11:31 am Comment from: MikeK

^^^

Should read "hundreds OF thousands," not "or"

Clearly, this is a sign that Apple should buy Wal-Mart.

Feb 26, 08 - 11:58 am Comment from: Demon

Points and not money?
Sounds like a classic Bait and Switch marketing game to me.
Today 1point = 1dollar (but points have no cash back value so once you've paid for them there in no refund value)
At Microsoft's whim 1 point redemption value = .25 cent or 1point redemption value = .10 cent.
But, 1point purchase cost is $1dollar or .50 cent to buy depending on the wind direction from Ballmer's bum.
Points are what only sold in bundles of 25, 50 and 100?
It's a classic fraud shill for a Bait and Switch marketing tactic.

ok, so if you say the average album has 12 songs 4B/12 = 333 M albums.

That's a lot, but does anyone know how many CD's were sold in like 1997?

How I support iTunes Store.

1) Collect all my change in a jar over the month.

2) At the end of the month, go to a Coinstar machince and redeem for an iTunes ecertificate.

3) Redeem to your account and buy music or buy (or rent) movies.

This equates to around $50 bucks a month.

Feb 26, 08 - 01:01 pm Comment from: Ampar

"Wal-Mart Music Downloads"

"We're sorry, your operating system is incompatible. To provide the best download experience, we can no longer support Windows 98, ME or NT. Please visit again after you upgrade to Windows 2000 or XP. Visit our Help section for complete system requirements information."

The best download experience?
For a Rhesus monkey on crack with ADD?

Feb 26, 08 - 01:04 pm Comment from: Predrag

You could probably dig up the numbers for 1997 CD sales somewhere in the Google land. The point here is that the trend is clear. ITunes Store continues to grow. Its sales continue to grow. Its growth RATE is slowing, which means, it is slowly maturing.

Meanwhile, In Microsoftia, if you want to buy something, don't bother with US dollars; you must use their official currency (called points, but it could have easily been called Escudos, Dirhams, Ringitts, or any other equally foreign currency). So I wanna buy seven songs and I have 425 points; can I do it or can I not? What's the exchange rate there... 70 points per US dollar (I might want to treat it as Kenyan Shilling; it's about the same exchange rate), so how many Kenyan Shillings for seven songs? about 483 (nice round number, ain't it); dang it, I'm short; I need to buy more; five bucks will get me about 350 more shillings, which should do it; but what do I to with the rest of the Shillings; they're worthless here in the US, I can't sell them back for US currency... This Microsoftia sure is a colossal hassle..!

No wonder iTunes is the king of the hill!

"Microsoft's wonderful Zune Marketplace doesn't use currency—they use points which is more fun than currency. Stodgy old Apple hasn't figured this out yet but I expect them to copy Microsoft in this regard. Again. So in the case of Zune Marketplace a small amount of points are deducted monthly from your account. It's like a game when you use points. Using money is boring."

So THAT'S how you got that 'free' copy of Vista Bourne Ultimate Edition! Teach us more, o Master Blaster!

Feb 26, 08 - 01:15 pm Comment from: Zune Tang®

What is it about points you MAC-tards don't understand? Is the humdrum miserable experience of using an overpriced proprietary MAC sucking all the joy out of your lives?

Points are FUN! It's like a game. In American football when you score a touchdown you are rewarded in POINTS, and it feels good. You aren't rewarded in dollars, francs or rupees. It wouldn't be as much fun.

Maybe you MAC lemmings are just a bunch of old fuddy duddies who just can't see what the hip, young Gen Y Facebook army will gravitate to: Microsoft Zune Points. Because they're cool.

Your potential. Our passion.™

Is it fair to assume that iTMS is running on Xserve/XRaids? If so, not only must Apple be one of the biggest users of these boxes, but it would argue that this hardware/software combo is definitely Enterprise class (something we already knew), and Apple should talk about it. Perhaps someone who knows can shed light on the architecture being used.

Feb 26, 08 - 01:38 pm Comment from: Ampar

"Points are FUN!"

And you've just earned enough points to have your poetic license punted for pointedly trying to drive a point home under the influence of a pint of points.

Feb 26, 08 - 01:45 pm Comment from: Ampar

"Is it fair to assume that iTMS is running on Xserve/XRaids?"
Probably. But they do seem to keep it a secret.

phobos.apple.com

Netblock Owner: Apple Computer, Inc. 20740 Valley Green Drive, MS32E Cupertino CA 95014 US

IP address : 17.250.236.65

OS: unknown

Web Server: Apache/2.0.58 Unix

Last changed: 15-Feb-2008

Feb 26, 08 - 01:45 pm Comment from: Fred Mertz

Zuned: What’s the ‘deal’ with Microsoft Points?

Apple has NOT always used its own server hardware. I wouldn't be surprised if iTunes runs on Linux servers. Everything I've read suggests those scale up better than XServes. Is that not right?

@ Zune Tang

"Points are FUN! It's like a game. In American football when you score a touchdown you are rewarded in POINTS, and it feels good. You aren't rewarded in dollars, francs or rupees. It wouldn't be as much fun. "

And just like football, MS hires someone to try and spy on the opposing team's game plan (and still can't get it right). And receiving Points from MS is about as much fun as crawling across a five mile stretch of broken glass on your belly with your fly unzipped.

MS: Your Frustration. Our Fault.

Feb 26, 08 - 02:38 pm Comment from: Spark

@Zune Tang

""Points are FUN! It's like a game. In American football when you score a touchdown you are rewarded in POINTS, and it feels good. You aren't rewarded in dollars, francs or rupees. It wouldn't be as much fun. "

No dollars? Try telling Shawn Merriman that! Hah.
I love you Zune. Keep 'em coming!

Feb 26, 08 - 02:45 pm Comment from: Zune Tang®

Whatever. Obviously there weren't any curmudgeon MAC sheep in Microsoft's market research. Of course there's only 3 or 4 people who actually use MAC so they're pretty hard to find. You can't argue with Microsoft's findings: people would rather use points than actual money therefore points rule the day at Zune Marketplace. And that's why Zune Marketplace will rule over I-Tunes in a year. Outlook calendar it, MAC dorks. Maybe Microsoft should buy I-Tunes instead of Yahoo and just get it over with.

So go ahead, MAC sheep. You can use your currency. I'm going to use points.

Your potential. Our passion.™

"Whatever. Obviously there weren't any curmudgeon MAC sheep in Microsoft's market research. Of course there's only 3 or 4 people who actually use MAC so they're pretty hard to find. You can't argue with Microsoft's findings: people would rather use points than actual money therefore points rule the day at Zune Marketplace. And that's why Zune Marketplace will rule over I-Tunes in a year. Outlook calendar it, MAC dorks. Maybe Microsoft should buy I-Tunes instead of Yahoo and just get it over with.

So go ahead, MAC sheep. You can use your currency. I'm going to use points."

Wait, lemme get off the gravy train here for a second. You actually know of 3 or people at the Death Sta--- um, Redmond that actually use Macs?
But don't you need actual money to "buy" points? So I cannot get points with points? What's the point?
So Zune will rule in a year from now, not a year or so back when it came out, eh? Well, I'll iCal it under "Squirt me in the eye".

Oh, and it's "Mac", not "MAC". It's like me trying to say Zune the way you do. Watch:
ZHIT
See? I can't do it.

Think Different.

Gee, Zune Tang is sure pulling out the redundant postings.

"The future of music retailing is in subscriptions."
-Bullsh*t said before, Bullshit said now.™

"More is always better."
-Yup, more songs sold by Apple is sure a lot better than the trickle of songs sold/rented by everyone else.

"MAC lemmings are the only suckers who purchase music."
-Lots of Windows users have iTunes on those Delluded computers, and own iPods.

" I think you get my idea."
Bullsh*t, bullsh*t, bullsh*t, yeah we get the idea.

"they use points which is more fun than currency. Stodgy old Apple hasn't figured this out yet but I expect them to copy Microsoft in this regard."
-Along with the rest of the world that uses currency? I highly doubt it. The gold standard has been around for a while. What MS does do is try to create its own standard...again.

"money is boring."
-Probably why you don't have any ZT. Glad to see you stay away from Apple stock, the second best performing stock on the planet over the last 10 years.

" Zune Marketplace will rule over I-Tunes in a year."
-Didn't you say that a year ago.

Keep it up ZT, my bullsh*t detector has never gone off so much.

Just to clarify the 4 billion number was announced first at MacWorld which is in January not Feb 26th. All the talk about rate of growth is off by a month. Itunes is doing fine

And Apple says that the majority of people's music on iPods is from burned CDs?

The record companies must be lying about their revenue then.

Apple announced it hit 4B back at the beginning of January, not Feb 28. That's when NPD released a research report on the industry, and it uses figures from last month. So, it's more like 5 months - billion songs, not 7