In somewhat of a surprise from Tuesday's quarterly conference call, it was announced that iTunes Software and Services generated $3.9 billion, which represents a whopping 25 percent increase compared to the year-ago period.
As Apple prepares to launch iTunes Radio alongside iOS 7, new figures from Nielsen indicate that the music streaming industry has taken off, with more than 50 billion songs streamed in the first half of this year.
Apple appears to have finalized the details of its settlement agreement for a class action suit over in-app purchases on iPhones and iPads, with the Cupertino company offering millions of dollars in refunds and iTunes credits.
After Apple published numbers for iTunes TV show and music downloads on Wednesday, Asymco's Horace Dediu broke down the stats to reveal the online storefront rakes in some $6.9 billion each year, or roughly 75 percent of all digital music sales.
This week, Apple's chief executive Tim Cook presented a new milestone for iTunes accounts: 575 million. As Asymco's Horace Dediu points out, that means Apple is now adding a half million new accounts on average every day.
The ongoing antitrust trial by the U.S. Department of Justice alleging an effort by Apple to fix prices in the ebooks market has revealed that Apple's iBooks business grew by 100 percent last year, maintaining a 20 percent share of the overall market.
Apple's much-anticipated "iRadio" was announced by the company at WWDC on Monday under the name "iTunes Radio," offering free streaming Internet radio to users across all major platforms.
Sony Music has reportedly signed a deal with Apple for its anticipated "iRadio" streaming music service, marking the last of the three major music labels to reach an agreement.
Reports continue to suggest that Apple is prepared to unveil its so-called "iRadio" music streaming service next week, with the company apparently contacting major advertisers about the initiative.
Apple's iAd network will serve both visual and audio advertisements as part of the company's forthcoming "iRadio" initiative, according to a new report.
Apple on Wednesday released iTunes 11.0.4, a minor update for its media player and digital storefront that promises to address issues related to syncing and purchasing content.
Apple's current account base of 500 million users is growing and spending at a tremendous rate, suggesting to one analyst that new services such as mobile payments or streaming radio could be key to the company's future growth.
At the D11 conference on Thursday, Google announced that its Play All Access subscription music service, announced earlier this month for other platforms, will also arrive on Apple's iOS platform in the coming weeks.
Book publisher Penguin announced on Wednesday it has reached a $75 million "comprehensive agreement" with U.S. State Attorneys General and private class plaintiffs over e-book price fixing allegations connected to Apple and its iBookstore for iOS.
Given that Apple now sits on well over $144.7 billion in liquid resources, there's lots of discussion about how the company could or should be spending it. What Apple is already doing with its cash is actually more interesting.
Game developer Gameloft is giving iOS users a treat starting this weekend, as two of its titles — Gangstar Rio and N.O.V.A 3 — are both free for a limited time.
Apple on Thursday released a new version of its iTunes media suite, with a new MiniPlayer featuring artwork and a progress bar, along with an improved Songs View.
On Wednesday, Google introduced its long-anticipated Spotify competitor: Google Play Music All Access, a "uniquely Google approach" to subscription music service.
Data sent from iTunes represents 1.9 percent of North American Internet traffic every night, a share beyond all other competing digital storefronts, but also well behind the bandwidth served up by Netflix.
Microsoft would love for Apple to bring iTunes — one of the world's most popular software offerings — to its Windows 8 "Metro" platform, but executives at the Redmond giant say Windows 8 users shouldn't expect a touch-friendly version of the application any time soon.
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AppleInsider Staff
Kevin Bostic
Daniel Eran Dilger
Sam Oliver
Katie Marsal
Neil Hughes
