“You can expect Apple to launch its iTunes Music Store here sometime on Wednesday or Thursday,” Scott Kara reports for The New Zealand Herald.
“Sorry we can’t be more precise, it’s just that in keeping with its top secret policy when launching new products, Apple is not saying a thing,” Kara reports. “Well, kind of: the hints are rife.”
Kara reports, “What we can say is the Herald has an interview with a big-wig from Apple – possibly on Wednesday morning sometime – to talk about a “new product”. Well, hell-o. It confirms the strong industry rumours about the imminent arrival of the world’s leading online music store.”
Kara reports, “Adding to the covert nature of Apple’s publicity machine, the Herald would not be told the name of the company spokesperson or the new product until the interview. ‘All we’re allowed to do is let you know that it’s an interview with a senior Apple person and that that person will be making an announcement,’ said a representative from advertising agency TBWA\Whybin.”
Full article here.
BOO YAH!!! HUGE NEWS!!!! WOO!!!!
haribo…den er go’…. nem das, hairbo… heehaw Apple rules
New Zealand rocks and is one of the most beautiful countries in the world. I’m going on a photography trip next March.
gee does that mean i dont have to get my stuff from apples store in australia anymorw? i will have to check the exchange rate to see which one wins
I griped about the lack of iTunes NZ on this site a few months ago, so, if correct, this is great news. Apart from the obvious benefit of access to legal on-line music, it should also raise Apple’s profile in Godzone.
That means it’s only a matter of time before iTunes Store Middle Earth opens.
I hear Gimli is a huge Mastadon fan.
-c
MW: ‘press’ (release said it came in brown, but of course I didn’t believe it)
About bloody time too eh Kimmie?
Pity Macs cost so bloody much here.
Way to go Kiwi’s.
A lot of them have had iTunes for over a year now anyway!
10% + of the Kiwi population live and work (sometimes) in Oz.
Kia Ora
Gimli: “Pity Macs cost so bloody much here”.
That’s not quite correct, although I’ve also previously griped about Mac pricing. In fact, NZ Mac prices have come down, even in the last few months, which is all good. The problem is that, except possibly for laptops, the differential between Mac and PC prices hasn’t.
Some of this difference can be explained by economies of scale, and Apple’s legitimate need to make a profit in a small market. And, in fairness, the NZ pricing is similar to that in the larger Oz market, allowing for the exchange rate.
Nevertheless, the pricing discrepancy, at least for desktops, must be a problem for local dealers, such as Magnum Mac. They give great service, but you can buy a Dull with similar specs to, say a 20″ iMac, for a little over half the price — a significantly greater differential than in the US. It can’t be easy for dealers to persuade Kiwis to switch when faced with that comparison.
I don’t pretend have any solutions to this issue, but I hope Apple NZ can come up with some ideas for reducing this price difference.
But isn’t it great that it looks like we’re getting an iTunes store, but will be spared Zunes with SquirtsForSure?
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Yeah, if our farting cows are contributing to global warming, immagine what squirting Zunes would do!
The enormous talent from Aotearoa (that the rest of the world rarely gets to hear) finally gets to be on iTunes!
Now, if they could only figure out a way so that we can purchase tunes from any store, anywhere in the world.
Or, at least allow us to send a bloody gift certificate to anyone, anywhere in the world.
Kia ora!
I assume it won’t just be Kiwi music on iTunes NZ? Can anyone bring me up to speed on this?
I’ll believe it when I see it!!
If it does, it wouldn’t be just Kiwi music, as good as some of it is and would show some of the wannabe sites (digirama, Ripit, coketunes) how to do it properly and open it up to ALL computer users and not those using crappy Windows with IE!!
Anyway this dwarf, will keep using his Aussie account until the darkness is lifted.
Just one more reason to relocate to the Southern Hemisphere.
“Anyway this dwarf, will keep using his Aussie account until the darkness is lifted.”
….or until you have to renew your credit card.
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EarWig: “Yeah, if our farting cows are contributing to global warming, immagine what squirting Zunes would do!”
A carbon tax on squirting Zunes. Now there’s a thought.
A “new product”? iPod karaoke?
Actually, although I would love it to be the iTunes store that will be announced, I get the feeling it might be something better…
Wasn’t only a coulpe of weeks ago that Renaissance (the licensed apple inporter/reseller)announced it was changing all its staff’s email addresses from .apple.co.nz to renaissance.co.nz? And said it was only renewing the apple.co.nz website for one more month till the end of December?
Well, here’s my take… I heard recently music industry people here talking about iTunes and one of the guys got all cagy when I asked about iTunes opening here – he quickly scoped me out and then said don’t expect it anytime soon etc. I got the feeling it was possible it was about to go online but can’t be sure after his last statement-
But! mix that with the renaissance stuff and I think apple might just be launching an apple store in NZ DIRECT! now there has been no offical rumours about then setting one up here, but what if they just did it through the website and by-passed the resellers! So effectively becoming the dominant apple stor in NZ- with drastically cheaper prices (i.e. no reseller overheads- which tend to be in the $1000’s of dollars for a MAC PRO setup)
I know its a long shot… but what if…???
It would be nice to get those lower prices kiwistarboj, but not at the expense of the local resellers, who’ve supported the Mac community in Godzone for years. If there is to be a new wholesale arrangement (and that’s highly speculative), I’d want it to support them.
I high proportion of Kiwis have had access for a while now. Since most live here in Oz.
And most Aussies live here in the US.
Actually, Micro Me although I do appreciate the work that all the resellers have done for NZ and the awesome people that work there… I think that considering have savvy most NZ’ers are and how tight they are with their money, the price of Mac’s in NZ is the BIGGEST problem that faces any expansion that could happen here.
When it is quite simple to do a money conversion from US to Kiwi $ and discover that a approx NZ $10,000 top of the line MAC pro from a NZ reseller, costs around NZ $7,000 in the US then, yeah I think… an apple store or Website that can by-pass the resellers, although cruel in many ways to their loyalty IS the only way peoples attitudes wil change in NZ. People constantly bork at the idea of buying a mac when the compare to a shitty Dell Pc with similar specs… keeping the resellers in business because of sentimental ‘we’ve been loyal for so long..’crap is why Apple struggles in NZ especially the Education market… Do you know the Government over here gives close to a 100% write-off for Microsoft products?? Where’s the MAC discount… hmmm, I bet it’s because of the price!!
I say, let apple buy Magnum MAC or something and then turn it into an Apple store Network. The sooner we get more resonable prices more in line with the US then the better… after all they’re all made in China aren’t they??
Oh well… you can only dream!
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I share your dream of lower Mac prices kiwistarboj, but not your solution.
Like others, I’ve compared the PC:Mac price ratio in the US and NZ, and can cite examples from my own workplace of where ours works against Apple.
Years ago, I bought Macs from overseas and saved money, but I’ve no current evidence of excessive reseller mark-ups. I buy locally wherever possible – there’s no sentiment in rewarding good service with customer loyalty.
A direct Apple presence may have some plusses – TV ads, for example. But I can’t see how a buy-out of local resellers (even if they agreed to that) would reduce prices – Apple stores would still have much the same running costs. They’ll only sell for less if they can obtain cheaper product, which suggests that the answer lies in examining transaction costs all the way back to the factory door in China.
I gripe about the PC:Mac price discrepancy in NZ, because as a Mac user for 21 years (and the sole Mac user in my workplace), I’d like to see it addressed, the presumably miniscule Mac market share in NZ to increase, and for my local reseller to increase their business. And, back to the thread topic….. I think an iTunes NZ store would help that process.
Lastly, Macs are simply better value than PCs, so I’ll always pay a bit more for one.
I guess we’ll just have to wait and see if there’s any truth in the NZ Herald story, or in your more interesting interpretation.
Hmmm looks like I was close… wondering if the online store will change when renaissance’s license expires st the end of Dec???
So close…
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