14 DAY TRIAL // As some of you may recall, a recent Ars Technica report has said that several Apple employees received an internal email (Excel spreadsheet) revealing what looked like a chart ranking top music retailers in the US for the month of January 2008. Apple's iTunes was placed right at the top, as the #1 music retailer in the US for the respective timeframe, but not everyone was convinced. Now, the Cupertino-based corporation confirms through a press release - God forbid they issued more... (sarcasm) - that iTunes is indeed #1 in The States.
Confusion has struck earlier this week, following the Ars report, as it was later revealed that iTunes' sudden jump to pole position was caused by post Christmas gift-card redemption. Apple had since dropped to second place, chasing only Wal-Mart. However, Apple fans can now breathe a sigh of relief:
CUPERTINO, California-April 3, 2008-Apple? today announced that the iTunes? Store (www.itunes.com) surpassed Wal-Mart to become the number one music retailer in the US, based on the latest data from the NPD Group*. With over 50 million customers, iTunes has sold over four billion songs and features the world's largest music catalog of over six million songs, says the official Apple report.
Eddy Cue, Apple's vice president of iTunes, also said a few about their feat: "We launched iTunes less than five years ago, and it has now become the number one music retailer in the world," he said. "We are thrilled, and would like to thank all of our customers for helping us reach this incredible milestone."
As for data from market research firm is concerned, the NPD Group's MusicWatch survey captures consumer reported past week unit purchases and counts one CD representing 12 tracks, excluding wireless transactions, Apple clarifies. The iTunes Store became the largest music retailer in the US based on the amount of music sold during January and February 2008, the report claims.