Amazon’s music ambitions pose no threat to Apple’s market-dominating iPod+iTunes

“Amazon.com may be jumping into the online music mosh pit, but don’t expect Apple Computer to give up the stage any time soon,” Troy Wolverton reports for TheStreet.com. “Published reports indicate that Amazon is close to launching its own digital music service that would compete with Apple’s industry-leading iTunes store. In conjunction with the move, Amazon also will apparently offer its own line of Amazon-branded digital music players that would work hand-in-hand with the service, according to the reports.”

“‘I don’t think [Amazon’s prospective store] is a threat [to Apple] at all,’ says Tim Bajarin, principal analyst with Creative Strategies, an industry research and consulting firm. ‘There are a lot of things that Amazon would have to get right for this to work.’ That’s because for the many advantages Amazon may have, its digital music store would start off with some significant obstacles. iTunes has already established itself as the leading online music provider, and Apple brands such as iTunes and the iPod music player have become strongly identified with what is hip and cool in the digital music market,” Wolverton reports. “The iTunes store had 83% of the market for U.S. digital music sales in December, according to Nielsen SoundScan data released by Apple CEO Steve Jobs last month. Apple’s various iPod lines own north of 70% of the digital music player market in the U.S.”

Full article here.

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Related article:
Amazon preps Amazon-branded music players, digital music service to rival Apple iPod+iTunes Store – February 16, 2006