Apple launches iTunes Store in all remaining EU countries

Posted:
in iPod + iTunes + AppleTV edited January 2014
Apple on Thursday launched the iTunes Store in the 12 European Union countries that had yet to gain access to it, ending an eight year wait for what has become the world's No. 1 music store.



Users can now download and purchase music through iTunes in Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia. Apple added new localized online stores last week, including the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland.



Apple has yet to open an official online store in Cyprus, Malta and Slovenia, providing only a spartan webpage featuring support or "where to buy" information for the iPhone. However, the three countries are available as selections in the standalone iTunes application.



Previous reports had claimed that only 10 of the remaining 12 EU countries lacking access to the store would be brought into the fold.



The introduction of iTunes across Europe should significantly improve Apple's reach as some of the territories gaining iTunes support this week have populations over 10 million. In June, Apple announced at WWDC that it had sold over 15 billion songs since opening the iTunes Music Store in mid-2003, making it the largest music retailer in the world.



In addition to iTunes opening its digital doors to the 12 remaining EU states, some countries that already have access to the service are now able to purchase or rent select movies from the online store. Currently there are about 270 titles from Fox, Universal and Buena Vista available to purchase or rent, though TV shows have yet to show up in most countries.



Landing page for the new Apple Online Store in the Czech Republic



Apple's iBookstore has opened to new EU markets as well, but a few countries not committed to the Euro have yet to offer content. Previously, free eBooks from sources such as Project Gutenberg were the only titles offered within iBooks in countries like Switzerland.



Some content owners looking to add books via iTunes Connect to non-Euro countries such as Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Switzerland, have reported receiving notifications that they "do not have a contract in effect" for those territories. Previously, only the U.S., U.K., France, Germany, Australia and Canada were listed as available markets for publishers on the iBookstore.



Apple's App Store has been available to more than a hundred countries around the world, including all 27 EU countries. Within Europe, licensing disputes and marketplace fragmentation have hindered a pan-European iTunes Store from being created.



There has been no official announcement from Apple regarding the launch or addition of content to iTunes throughout the EU, though the stores are available for selection within the iTunes software.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 20
    jumejume Posts: 209member
    Finally! We have been waiting for you iTMS far too long! Slovenia!
  • Reply 2 of 20
    xamaxxamax Posts: 135member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Jume View Post


    Finally! We have been waiting for you iTMS far too long! Slovenia!



    I wonder how long it will take to have •movies• and TV shows available on iTunes for the EU region?



    Hopefully, Apple can force the powers that be into fusing the fragmentation into a big EU market. It will probably be good for all.
  • Reply 3 of 20
    I imagine the good citizens of Sweden and Denmark would be surprised to discover that, according to this article, they are no longer in the EU..
  • Reply 4 of 20
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post


    Apple has also added a new Online Store for the Czech Republic, in addition the iTunes Store.



    That was a week ago, along with Apple Online Store for Hungary and Poland, as AI already informed.



    Quote:

    non-EU countries such as Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Switzerland



    Sweden and Denmark are in the EU, they just don't use Euro as their currency - maybe that's what you meant?
  • Reply 5 of 20
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by bobrik View Post


    Sweden and Denmark are in the EU, they just don't use Euro as their currency - maybe that's what you meant?



    Yes. Thanks for catching that. Changed it to "non-Euro."
  • Reply 6 of 20
    chiachia Posts: 713member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post


    Some content owners looking to add books via iTunes Connect to non-EU countries such as Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Switzerland



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by fruiteatingbear View Post


    I imagine the good citizens of Sweden and Denmark would be surprised to discover that, according to this article, they are no longer in the EU..



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by bobrik View Post


    Sweden and Denmark are in the EU, they just don't use Euro as their currency - maybe that's what you meant?



    fruiteatingbear correctly picked up on a mistake by Appleinsider.

    Perhaps it's time Appleinsider has editors and moderators from across most time zones and regions of the world if it doesn't already.



    It will be nice if both Appleinsider and some posters thought from a more global perspective: whilst an American company, Apple operates on a global level, even their products state:

    "Designed by Apple in California, assembled in China".
  • Reply 7 of 20
    asciiascii Posts: 5,936member
    You would think iCloud would be a big enough server-side event to handle, without opening up iTunes to 12 more countries at the same time. They must be confident I guess.
  • Reply 8 of 20
    It's a pity that there is no iTunes Store in Russia. We have to use illegal downloads, while I personally prefer legal purchase.
  • Reply 9 of 20
    i'm in malta and there seems to be more than just a spartan page... books and music appear to be available to purchase finally



    no tv or movies however
  • Reply 10 of 20
    European country with 45 millions of inhabitants, and not the poorest one, is also lacking both iTunes and Mac App Stores (as well as official Apple representative.) It's a bit impractical to overlook such a large market.
  • Reply 11 of 20
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by fruiteatingbear View Post


    I imagine the good citizens of Sweden and Denmark would be surprised to discover that, according to this article, they are no longer in the EU..



    Finally! Oh, sorry, we're still in the EU...



    The funny thing is that since Tuesday it's possible to buy movies from the iTunes in Sweden! It first popped up as Genius suggestions and today we can officially buy movies! Something I have been waiting for a long time. The movie industry is no longer stalling this, good to see that even they can make progress.



    Finally!
  • Reply 12 of 20
    As Meniac said, movie rentals and movie buying is now possible in the Scandinavian countries! So besides the iBook Store and Music Stores, Apple also seems to have been rolling out movie stores across some EU countries
  • Reply 13 of 20
    Everybody forgets Greece, iTunes Store still has no movies, iBooks is only free stuff, And still has no Apple Online Store. Seams Like Zimbabwe will Get theres first
  • Reply 14 of 20
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post


    There has been no official announcement from Apple regarding the launch or addition of content to iTunes throughout the EU, though the stores are available for selection within the iTunes software.



    Until Movies are in the Belgian 'store' I rather refer to it as Kiosk
  • Reply 15 of 20
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by freelander51 View Post


    Until Movies are in the Belgian 'store' I rather refer to it as Kiosk



    Just thought that I would point out that films are now available in the Belgian store...
  • Reply 16 of 20
    I'm from Romania and I don't get it. How come I can buy any book from Amazon, but on the iTunes there are only a few books, mostly free. It's like Apple doesn't want our money. They practically push us to buy from Amazon.
  • Reply 17 of 20
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by ombra2105 View Post


    Just thought that I would point out that films are now available in the Belgian store...



    Freakin' Finally Fantastic! In The Netherlands as well (as of 9/27). Wish I didn't have a dinner date tonight or I would definitely be browsing and buying. Looks like it's € 9,99 for new movies, € 16,99 in HD (720p), older ones € 7,99 (2010 and older). Strangely enough, Disney's Dumbo from 1941 is € 13,99 (1:03:54) - wow.



    They have rentals as well, either € 2,99 or € 3,99. Prices over here include 19% VAT.



    270 available titels: Family (73), Action & Aventure (58), Comedy (70), Drama (33), Science Fiction (21), Romance (8), Thriller (4) and Horror (3). No subtitles, no TV series.



    Apple TV v2 still not for sale, but retailers are offering it come Oct. 4th.



    Does anyone know if you should backup a purchase, or can we re-download it for free?



    Cheers,

    PhilBoogie
  • Reply 18 of 20
    MacProMacPro Posts: 19,718member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by crakans View Post


    Everybody forgets Greece, iTunes Store still has no movies, iBooks is only free stuff, And still has no Apple Online Store. Seams Like Zimbabwe will Get theres first



    Fingers crossed for you. I love Greece one of the most beautiful countries I have ever seen.
  • Reply 19 of 20
    Singapore!!!!!!
  • Reply 20 of 20
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by PhilBoogie View Post


    Freakin' Finally Fantastic! In The Netherlands as well (as of 9/27). Wish I didn't have a dinner date tonight or I would definitely be browsing and buying. Looks like it's ? 9,99 for new movies, ? 16,99 in HD (720p), older ones ? 7,99 (2010 and older). Strangely enough, Disney's Dumbo from 1941 is ? 13,99 (1:03:54) - wow.



    They have rentals as well, either ? 2,99 or ? 3,99. Prices over here include 19% VAT.



    270 available titels: Family (73), Action & Aventure (58), Comedy (70), Drama (33), Science Fiction (21), Romance (8), Thriller (4) and Horror (3). No subtitles, no TV series.



    Apple TV v2 still not for sale, but retailers are offering it come Oct. 4th.



    Does anyone know if you should backup a purchase, or can we re-download it for free?



    Cheers,

    PhilBoogie





    As of right now, you are responsible for backing up your movie purchases. Which is a huge reason I am considering ditching my iPhone and iTunes altogether. Stuff happens, hard drives crash, kids get hold of cd backups and ruin them....could be anything. iTunes improved as far as allowing you to redownload apps, books, music and tv series, but NOT movies. Which I think they should allow every year and a half. That way people wouldn't lose them, but neither could they abuse being able to redownload. So everyone needs to get together and throw a fit about it. They want us to buy movies, and in many cases they're the same as buying the dvd. Since it's a digital purchase, I believe the benefit should be never having to worry about losing a movie again.



    Outside of that, while a lot of stuff on iTunes is cheap, there is a lot of stuff that is not, yet , there is no refund policy and there should be. I don't care if you spend $5 or $30, if what you purchase is not what it was advertised to be or it simply doesn't end up being what you were looking for, you should be able to get your money back. That is how the world works and it is ridiculous for iTunes to let those crappy developers cash in with a bunch of crappy apps knowing there is nothing we can do about it.



    Apologize for rambling on but we iPhone and iPad users need to stick together to try and get things changed. So everyone who agrees with what I am saying, write to iTunes and give your feedback.
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