Hi,
> 4) pricing is good (said to be about 315 JPY, 3 times the price of a 30
> sec "chaku-uta" and slightly higher
> than web-based services which retail for about 210 JPY)
Pricing may seem good when compared to other download prices in Japan. However, on iTunes I can buy full songs for 99 cent, which is about 130 Yen.
Asahi published an article the other day about iTunes not being available in Japan. Here is a quote:
"While a single download costs 99 cents (about 110 yen) at Apple Computer Inc.'s iTunes Music Store site, which is not yet available in Japan, domestic services typically charge at least 200 yen per song. That's more expensive than renting a CD single, priced at about 100 yen."
Source (English)
http://www.asahi.com/english/business/TKY200409080120.html
For this and other reasons, it appears that Apple faces resistance from the local industry against the entry of iTunes into the Japanese market. Nevertheless the iPod device seems very popular here.
Cheers,
Andrea
Received on Wed Oct 20 01:52:10 2004