D avid Zeiler of the Baltimore Sun is looking at some of Appleis non-computer products, such as the iPod, .Mac, and the iTunes Music Store (iTMS). He sees the combined sales of the Windows and Mac versions of the iTunes Music Store grabbing 20% of the downloadable music market, and in doing so, further increasing the sales of the iPod. More importantly, he says that this represents a fundamental shift in strategy for Apple. From the Baltimore Sunis The Mac Experience column:
Should this come to pass, and it appears that all the pieces are falling into place, then Apple could earn substantial revenue from a business only peripherally related to its sales of Macs.
In fact, once the service is available for Windows, the bulk of Music Store sales wonit depend on Macs at all.
Apple already has set the precedent with the iPod. More than half of all iPods sold are to Windows users -- which, along with the launch of the iTunes Music Store -- helped propel sales of the portable music player to 304,000 units in Appleis just-announced earnings report for the third fiscal quarter.
In his June report, Wolf cited statistics from IDC, a research firm based in Framingham, Mass., that the iPod already holds 51 percent of the market for music players with hard drives. Imagine what would happen when Windows users can access the Music Store.
Thereis a lot more in the full article at the Baltimore Sunis Web site, and we recommend it as an interesting read.