Amazon is looking to launch own-brand portable music players and a music-download service to rival Apple's iTunes Music Store - perhaps as early as this summer - according to The Wall Street Journal.
The world's top online retailer - with annual net sales of $8.49 billion reported in its 2005 financial results - is, said to be,
"In advanced talks with
the four global music companies about a digital-music service with a
range of features designed to set it apart. Among them: Amazon-branded
portable music players, designed and built for the retailer, and a
subscription service that would deeply discount and preload those
devices with songs, not unlike mobile phones that are included with
subscription plans as part of the deal."
Such a move looks highly dangerous in the short term. TWSJ says Amazon has a 10 per cent market share of digital music players in the USA, so it must be at risk of having Apple and other makers pull product off its virtual shelves.
However, as TWSJ points out, the company may have little option but to take on Apple and risk the ire of all makers of music players because,
"Amazon depended on
physical media like CDs, DVDs and books for 70% of
its 2005 sales. To maintain its dominant position, Amazon will need to
hang on to consumers as they migrate to digital delivery of those
products."
And, TWSJ says,
Amazon has a customer base
of 55 million on which to build... and its plan has been
privately welcomed by music-business executives who see it as, "one of
the only credible challenges to Apple's hegemony in both digital music
and portable players."
Check out the detailed but highly-readable TWSJ report and let us know in the HEXUS.community whether or not you'd welcome such moves by Amazon.
