Taking A Bite Of The Apple

Posted Tuesday 13th January 2009 by James R in Uncategorized.

It seems that the battle for the hearts and minds of digital entertainment users is set to continue and even escalate in the coming months. DECE, a US entertainment, retail and IT consortium have revealed their plans to transform the way we access, purchase and play to digital entertainment content.

It will not be the news that the leading digital entertainment supplier Apple wants to hear as they are already having to fight on several other fronts including the emergence of Amazon as a digital music retailer and other peripheral issues like the ongoing iTunes – EMI – Beatles issue concerning the sale of the bands back catalogue through the iTunes site.

DECE, which does not include Apple, is planning a new system of Digital Rights Management that will enable them to retain control of all their members content. Contrast that with Apple’s recent announcement that it will get rid of DRM restrictions on the 10 million tracks on its site and it looks like the start of all out war! The outcome is likely to be that DECE content will not play on Apple products and vice versa.
Companies including Sony, Paramount and Microsoft have already signed up to the DECE plans and are throwing their weight behind the idea. If they get it right they could seriously threaten Apple and Itunes as the major supplier of digital entertainment. The market value being mentioned could run into billions of dollars.
Although most people are saying that both systems could occupy the same market and give people a choice it’s clear that with such heavy hitters in the entertainment industry involved and pitted against each other a stand off is not far away. Could it be the end of Apple’s dominance and the emergence of a new, more powerful, player in the digital media market?
It’s hard to predict how much impact this will have on Apple, perhaps, as some people have said, the number of big companies in the DECE will lead to drawn out negotiations and possible in-fighting amongst the big names. The fact that Apple is a single player could be its best defense and getting what can only be described as ‘fair warning’ of the DECE plans should give it ample time to make a counter attack. Only time will tell.

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