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In a move which could revolutionise the film industry, Apple has announced it will start selling movies on iTunes on the same day as the DVD release – potentially causing a huge dent to the latter’s sales.
Prior to this, iTunes users had to wait weeks after the DVD release to download movies.
Apple chief exec Steve Jobs said in January that seven million movies had been bought via iTunes – which was apparently below his expectations.
And the movie studios are also confident of the potential of movie downloads to become hugely popular, with Paramount, Warner Bros, Twentieth Centuary Fox, Disney, Universal, Sony, Lionsgate, Image Entertainment and First look all throwing their weight behind the scheme.
"People want to watch a movie as soon as it comes out, and they don’t want to have to wait," said Michael Gartenberg, an analyst at JupiterResearch. "What Apple is doing is knocking down one more barrier for why you wouldn’t want to buy a movie from them."
Link: Washington Post
