The rise and rise of iTunes

The remarkable success of Apple’s iTunes® Store (www.itunes.com) continues to grow. This week Apple announced that five billion songs have now been downloaded, which means that in less than a year it has sold two billion tracks. The remarkable growth means that in the last year, Apple has moved past Amazon, Target, BestBuy and Wal-Mart, to become the largest music retailer in the US. It is now also the world’s most popular online movie store - not bad for a business that opened its doors in April 2003.

iTunes Store Tops Over Five Billion Songs Sold Apple Renting & Selling Over 50,000 Movies Per Day

Its eight million song catalog is also the largest (up from 5 million last year) and it rents or sells over 50,000 movies every day, making it the world’s most popular online movie store, with a catalog of over 20,000 TV episodes and over 2,000 films (350 in HD). Less than 12 months ago, the catalog stood at just 550 television shows and 500 movies.