Included in yesterday's report by Apple to investors and analysts was a single stat that reinforces why iTunes still controls so much of the digital music market. Apple has nearly 800 million registered users. Impressively, users have grown 40% in just 10 months; and attached to every user is a credit card that enables one click purchase.
That's a growth rate of 710,000 accounts per day, and on track to hit 1 billion users next year. Amazon, which does not release user stats, has an estimated that 82 million users monthly.
But Apple has miscalculated.
The company has been reluctant to move into streaming music; and its first foray, iTunes Radio, has failed to slow growth at Pandora and other competitors. If Apple does not roll out new streaming music products soon, and the predicted shift to free and paid streaming music gathers stream, those 800 million credit cards will not be enough to save iTunes dominate position.
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