APPLE HAS added film content to its online music store iTunes, in a move which will see it compete with DVD rental outlets such as Xtravision and Chartbusters.
The iPhone and iPad maker has done deals with major film studios including 20th Century Fox, MGM, Paramount, Sony, Universal Studios, Walt Disney and Warner Bros to provide films for purchase or rental through iTunes.
The move had been long expected as Apple has provided video content in the US since 2006. Films will be available to buy on iTunes on the same day that they are released on DVD, according to Oliver Schusser, director of iTunes Europe with Apple.
The films are protected with Fairplay, Apple’s digital rights management (DRM) software which controls copying of digital content such as films and music.
The films can be viewed on Apple Macs and PCs, iPods that support video, iPhones or on Apple TV.
The Apple TV is a €270 set-top box which allows content from iTunes to be viewed on a television. Customers can watch a rented film multiple times in a single 48-hour period.
“What you can’t do is e-mail them or burn them and give them to someone else,” Mr Schusser said. Films will cost €7.99-€13.99 to buy while rental titles will cost €2.99-€4.99.
Apple’s move follows significant changes in the DVD rental market locally. The country’s largest chain, Xtravision, was acquired by a consortium including NCB Ventures and its management for €32 million last August.
Xtravision now positions itself as a home entertainment retailer. Only about a third of its revenues come from the rental of movies and computer games with sales of mobile phones and other consumer electronics increasingly important.
