“In the race to become the top mobile digital music store, Sprint Nextel’s latest milestone is a poor marker of success,” Rachel Rosmarin reports for Forbes. “In the nearly four months since the Sprint Music Store debuted, more than 1 million tracks have been downloaded, Sprint Nextel announced today. But Apple’s iTunes store sold the same amount in less than a week when it launched way back in May 2003, and will likely sell its billionth song this month… Of the one million tracks downloaded from Sprint, it is unclear how many of those were paid purchases. To promote the new service, Sprint offered five free song downloads to many customers.”
Full article here.
Sprint’s press release: http://news.ecoustics.com/bbs/messages/10381/198763.html
[Thanks to MacDailyNews reader “me” for the link.]
MacDailyNews Take: Apple currently sells about 4 million songs per day. For the Enderles of the world: Apple sells four times as many songs in one day than Sprint sells in four months. In other words, based upon current sales rates, Sprint takes approximately one year and four months to equal one day of Apple’s iTunes Music Store’s current sales. To look at the situation even more harshly, Apple sells a year’s worth of Sprint’s sales every 18 hours. A more ill-advised press release is almost unimaginable.
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*yawn* what? What happened?
1 million suckers
wants to shop on a PHONE?
This could NEVER compete with the iTunes experience.
This is because they gave all of their customers 5 free purchases. I’ve purchased 5 songs from Sprint Music Store (and spent the next 5 hours converting them to AAC) and I didn’t pay for any of them.
Sprint Music store is a good idea but it needs to be a subscription service. I’d pay about $5.00 a month to be able to listen to anything I want on the go on my phone but have it limited to my phone… great for when you’re on the road and you have a song in your head.
But don’t think for a minute this is ANY competitor to iTMS.
500,000 of the one million were free downloads…
That reminds me. I need to go try and win an iPod from the music store.
Within the DISTRICT of Columbia underhanded accounting may fly, but it is worth noting that Apple has said in quarterly earnings calls that their numbers are _sales_ not Pepsi promotions or free songs given away unless _someone_ paid Apple for them.
It makes me mad that Napster, Sprint, and others inflate their “dull little” (tm Apple Inc) numbers to include songs they lost money on. Not to mention, the subscription services count subscribers but don’t release if they are unique, repeat, or people who got a free month, tried it out, and walked away.
To put in perspective, Apple launched iTunes with 25M Macs the world where Sprint launched new phones with the service to be compatible.
Apple’s price was 99 cents, where Sprint is $2.50. Mobile music in the US is a nacent market. Sprint numbers aren’t that bad. My 2 cents.
I could sell that many songs in like 5 seconds 😀
The comments about Sprint’s niche are a legit justification that the service WORKED, but even assuming that Sprint’s ramp excellerates to 10M annually, and ever song was sold at $2.50, that’s $25M in revenue, not profits. Now factor in marketing and infrastructure expenses, not to mention royalties, and even the generous 10M/yr. extrapolation doesn’t leave much for profits.
To Sprint Nextel, even an extra few million in profits won’t justify the risk of that investment. Sprint Nextel needs to be making tens of millions and see clear demand for this service to exist in 2007.
So that’s 1 million songs every six hours (.25 days) for Apple; also (4 million per day x 120 days = 480 million in 4 months) compared to their ONE million in 4 months. Do da math.
PS, How many will Apple be selling in a year?
iTunes exclusive: Willie Nelson’s “Cowboys Are Frequently, Secretly (Fond of Each Other”
a good song that will sell millions, exclusively on iTunes
dont mention itunes.. dont mention itunes.. dont mention itunes
Does anyone know if these are only music downloads, or do they include ring tones as well? I’m not a Sprint users so I don’t know if they have ring tones or not.