iTunes Store opens in PH, 11 Asian countries

MANILA, Philippines – The Apple iTunes Store expands its reach in Asia as it officially launches in 12 countries, including the Philippines, opening its music and movies catalogue to millions of customers.

Apple officially launched iTunes stores for Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Macau, Malaysia, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, and the Philippines, where customers can choose from more than 20 million songs for purchase and download, the company said in a statement Wednesday, June 27.

The Store features both international and local artists, from Adele to Jay Chou to Angeline Quinto.

Fans of Original Pilipino Music (OPM) can now purchase and download songs for their iPhone, iPad, iPod, and Mac computers from the store.

Aside from music, the iTunes store is also making available for rent or purchase movies from major studios.

Prior to this, customers in the said countries could buy and download applications for their Apple products via the App Store only.

“All music on the iTunes Store comes in iTunes Plus®, Apple’s DRM-free format with high-quality 256 kbps AAC encoding for audio virtually indistinguishable from the original recordings,” Apple said.

China, its fastest growing market, was absent from the list, however.

Japan was the first Asian country to have access to the iTunes Store. In December, 17 Latin American countries also started having access to the iTunes Store. – Rappler.com