Editor’s note: This article was reposted from barrons.com.
Erik Schonfeld with TechCrunch this morning writes that Apple (AAPL) is seeking to finesse the problem of negotiations over subscriptions for periodicals on the iPad by offering publishers a compromise: the pubs can take subscribers to their own Web sites, but they must also offer users the option of buying straight through iTunes.
Schonfeld, citing industry sources, calls it a “brilliant countermove” by Apple, “knowing full well they [subscribers] will choose iTunes.” Schonfeld also points out that the fear among publishers is not just that Apple ends up with all the valuable billing/contact data for subscribers, but also that iTunes will make it easier for folks to cancel their subscriptions.
Well, if it means a subscription option is really, finally on the horizon for the iPad, bully for that, I say.
In other iTunes-related news today, Richard Lawler over at Engadget notes that iTunes’s shares of video revenue in the on-demand market shrank last year from 74.4% to 64.5%, citing data from research firm IHS Screen Digest. Lawler notes the change is mostly because of the rise of Microsoft’s (MSFT) Xbox 360 last year. Still, Apple’s iTunes movie revenue was up 60% for the year.
Lawler writes, “The up and comer to watch for 2011 appears to be the Wal-mart (WMT)/Vudu combo, currently fourth in line behind Sony but poised to grow by showing up on more devices and increasing its promotional efforts.”
By Tiernan Ray
iPad News Source: barrons.com
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