INTERNET BUSINESS NEWS-(C)1995-2005 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD

Apple has announced that the company's Japanese-based iTunes online music store has now been launched.

According to the company, iTunes is to charge JPY150 per song for 90% of its songs and JPY200 for the remainder. Avex Group Holdings Inc and Columbia Music Entertainment Inc are both to provide music for the Japanese iTunes store.

Apple currently has a share of approximately 36% of the market for digital music players in Japan and, according to Reuters, research firm BCN has cited the lack of iTunes in Japan as a possible reason why Sony was able to secure 27% of the flash-based players market and push Apple's iPod Shuffle into second place in May and June.

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