APPLE WILL SELL MOVIES WHEN DVD IS RELEASED
Score another victory for Apple boss Steve Jobs in his bid to win Hollywood’s support for selling movies as digital downloads through iTunes.
The Cupertino, Calif.-based company said yesterday that all the major movie studios will now join Disney and offer movies for purchase as downloads through iTunes on the same day DVDs go on sale in stores.
Apple was already selling catalog titles from Paramount, Lionsgate and MGM – though the studios are just now embracing the concept of day-and-date releases for iTunes.
Notable new additions on board for selling full ownership downloads through iTunes, in any form, include Warner Bros., 20th Century Fox (which like The Post is owned by News Corp.), Universal Studios Home Entertainment and Sony Pictures Entertainment.
Most new releases will be priced at $14.99, and most catalog titles at $9.99.
Up to now, the major studios have been resistant to selling movie downloads on the same day that DVDs are released in stores because of concern about conflicts with DVD retail partners like Wal-Mart.
But most major DVD retailers have been slow to adopt their own digital distribution strategies, and in the case of Wal-Mart, are even pulling back from digital movie download experiments.
At the same time, Wal-Mart also is pulling back on floor space dedicated to ultra low-cost DVDs amid shrinking sales.
Pali Capital analyst Rich Greenfield is predicting DVD sales will drop 4 percent to 5 percent this year, vs. 2 percent in 2007.