Coming Soon: Movie Downloads from Apple
Apple Computer is set to launch full-length movie downloads at the iTunes Music Store in mid-September, BusinessWeek is reporting today. According to some unnamed sources at BW, the iTMS will sell new movie releases at $14.99 and older titles for $9.99. The movies will arrive with DRM attached, so users will be able to watch the videos in iTunes, on an iPod, and possibly just burn them to a DVD and watch them wherever.
This puts the rumor of a top secret Apple announcement on September 12 into perspective. Chances are, Apple will announce the service as well as a new piece of hardware that will enhance the movie-viewing experience — possibly a new iPod with a wider screen.
The BusinessWeek article investigates the furor this deal is causing among Hollywood studios, WalMart and the other players in online downloads. Apparently, Apple CEO Steve Jobs leaned on the studios to get $14 pricing on the DVDs, three dollars lower than the standard $17 wholesale price point. WalMart is throwing a petulant frenzy as a result of this, and they're going to use their 40% DVD market share to put pressure on the studios and the online outlets.
Jobs has reportedly already sealed up Disney (the company of which he is the largest shareholder) with Lion's Gate Films and Fox soon to follow.
We'll be watching the movie downloads space closely because, if this all turns out to be true, Apple will own the market. Amazon's reported movie download service doesn't seem to be gathering any steam, but it doesn't really matter. Does anyone want to use the Amazon Video Player? No. Apple has iTunes, and that's the killer.
Movie downloads — just like music downloads — are all about the software. Give people easy access to the files through a familiar desktop application and they're more likely to buy them. It's just simple, and that's what people like.
