Samsung Says It Will Open "iTunes For Asia"

Overhype

from the see-steve-run dept

Samsung and Apple have had some interesting tales lately, mostly fallout from the scandals swirling around Samsung. But it looks like the Korean company isn’t dealing with the breakup of the two’s plans for a flash-memory JV too well, saying it’s going to try and keep iPod sales in Asia down by opening its own iTunes-like music store. Samsung sells more MP3 players than Apple in some Asian countries, and since iTunes doesn’t operate there, it sees an opportunity. An opportunity for what, though, isn’t exactly clear. A Samsung exec says its “number one priority is to help customers use our products with ease,” but if people are snapping up the players, it’s doubtful they’re having trouble getting music for them. Apparently they’re all really impressed with Apple’s iTunes-as-loss-leader strategy, though. Of course, what makes the story just slightly more bizarre is that Apple uses Samsung memory in the iPod, so even if a customer buys one, Samsung’s still making money.