Kent Pribbernow
05-11-2005, 04:00 PM
<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/05/10/apple_itunes_400m/' target='_blank'>http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/05/10/apple_itunes_400m/</a><br /><br /></div><i>"Tucked away in yesterday's press statement announcing new Nordic local ITMS operations, ITMS chief Eddy Cue said the company is now selling more than 500m songs a year. It passed the 350m mark last month. Since ITMS hasn't sold that amount yet, that may seem a rich claim. However, The Register's own forecast had ITMS passing 400m late this month or early next, so the music store's sales are running slightly ahead of our calculations."</i><br /><br />iTunes sales performance continues to impress, but the long-term question remains; will it become profitable? As of now Apple isn't generating much in the way of profits. The company is betting on music downloads ultimately becoming a big revenue generator, even eclipsing hardware (iPod) sales. Will that bet pay off?