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News
Apple Looking For More of Japan’s Music Market
Sunday, September 10th, 2006 at 3:00 PM - by Jeff Gamet
Apple's iPod line up may hold the top sales spots in Japan's MP3 player market, but the majority of the country's music downloads go to cell phones. According to Reuters, Apple is aggressively working to change that.
The biggest problem facing Apple in Japan is that consumers are more comfortable purchasing songs with their phone than online. "I've never bought songs from iTunes," said Misaki Masai, 20, a university student in Tokyo. "I don't like paying online."
One way the company is working around that issue is by selling pre-paid iTunes Music Store (iTMS) cards in convenience stores.
iTMS purchases are also substantially cheaper than their cell phone counterparts. Songs purchased via cell phone cost about 300 yen (about US$2.56), and iTMS songs cost about 150 yen (about $1.28). Along with lower costs, Apple also offers higher quality recordings.
Apple has also been hosting in-store concerts where it gives away free iTMS downloads.
The company's efforts seem to be paying off. More consumers are starting to use the iTMS, and now other companies are launching their own online music services.
But there is still a long road ahead for Apple. Before the iTMS sees the same music market dominance in Japan that it experiences in other parts of the world, Apple has to overcome the country's cell phone love affair.
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