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Apple launches iTunes in Japan

Youngsters pass by a huge billboard of Apple Computer Inc's popular digital music player, iPod, in Tokyo on Wednesday. Apple yesterday launched its music download service, the iTunes Music Store, in Japan. PHOTO: AP

Apple Computer Inc launched its music download service, the iTunes Music Store, in Japan yesterday with 1 million songs, determined to expand on its popular iPod business on the home turf of rival Sony Corp.

"We're super excited about this," Apple CEO Steve Jobs said in Tokyo as he announced the launching of the iTunes service.

"The future looks very, very bright for the iPod in Japan," he said.

The online store could also change the local music business, where people who download music are still accustomed to paying more money for a limited lineup of tunes from sites for PCs and mobile phones that cost about 200 yen (US$1.80) a tune or charge monthly fees.

Jobs said iTunes will have 1 million songs in Japan, by both Japanese and international artists, with most costing 150 yen (US$1.35) each. Only 10 percent of the songs cost 200 yen (US$1.80), he said.

That's slightly more than the US$0.99 charged in the US version of the service -- but the crowd at the Tokyo hall cheered when the price was announced. Philip Schiller, a senior vice-president who oversees product marketing, said Apple cannot comment on how the pricing in Japan was decided.

Jobs made no secret of iPod's challenge to Sony during his presentation, telling the crowd that the iPod was outselling Sony's latest star product, the PlayStation Portable, or PSP.

Sony sold about 2 million PSPs in the last quarter but Apple shipped more than 6 million iPods during that same time.

Offerings from Japanese artists on Sony labels aren't available on iTunes, Sony Music Entertainment spokeswoman Kiyono Yoshinaga said.

"We are in talks with Apple, but we have not reached an agreement at this time," she said, while declining to give details.

Jobs said he was eager to repeat the online store's big success in the US, where it accounts for 82 percent of all legally downloaded music. Apple has sold 21.8 million iPods worldwide since it went on sale in October 2001, and more than 500 million songs through its iTunes Music Store.

The iPod dominates the global digital-music-player market, controlling more than 70 percent share, but that falls to 36 percent in Japan, where Sony controls 22 percent market share, according to Apple, based in Cupertino, California.

But the iPod has been a big hit in Japan, growing into a fashion statement. Since the iPod caught on, Sony and others have also introduced portable players for MP3 music files, including those with hard drives like the iPod.

Apple's iPod models, which vary by capacity for songs and pricing, ranked first, second and fourth among hard-drive portable players in Japan sales, according to Gfk Marketing Services Japan in Tokyo, which compiles such data. Sony Network Walkman models were catching up at No. 3 and No. 5, but still apparently unable to make up for the iPod's early start.

Most iPod owners in Japan now either buy or rent CDs. CD rentals, offered at DVD and video rental stores, are very popular in Japan. But the arrival of iTunes could allow the local music download business to grow and encourage competing services to lower prices.

Schiller, the Apple official, said music downloads are still relatively new in Japan and Apple sees itself as carving out a new market here. But the proliferation of high-speed broadband as well as the relative small number of people who resort to illegal downloads make this nation a good place for iTunes, he said.
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