Apple announced their 500 millionth download and with it, 10 iPods and an iTunes gift card for 10,000 and free trip to go see Coldplay. Nice. This statistic show just how much iTunes is dominating the market over other download services. So what can Apple do for an encore? I want my iPodTV.
Cue the music, the drum beat starts, your little inch and half by inch and a half screen starts moving and Jessica Simpson’s video from the Dukes of Hazzard movie shows up on the screen. Farfetched? Nah. It’s gonna happen and Apple will once again lead the way in online music services.
Right now Apple dominates the industry saying NPD Techworld reports iPod owns about 75% of the market for MP3 players. This is an excellent time to let slip bits of information announcing the next revolution in downloadable content and that would be video content and it might not be that far away as some predict September.
The Wall Street Journal reported this morning that Apple entered negotiations with a number of music companies to acquire rights to move their video content much like their music content. According to the article, Apple wouldn’t comment on “rumors and speculation” but Apple tends to be pretty tight lipped about a lot of things.
Many industry watchers feel this is a logical choice for Apple, considering the quality of other video product they’re known for, including their awesome video editing software, FinalCutPro.
Apple will need to maintain an edge and keep new product flowing as alternatives begin to surface. With a host of new cell phones, PDAs and portable games consoles floating out with Internet access, some of those will downloadable capacity and the space to store tunes and video also.
John Stith is a staff writer for Murdok covering technology and business.
