With All Due Respect, Sir, I Don’t Think We Can Backdate iTunes Movie Inventory
With the Apple TV Take Two, we think we have it right this time. I think we have a great product.”
Promises, promises, promises … When Apple (AAPL) debuted iTunes Movie Rentals this past January, the company pledged to offer “over 1,000 titles by the end of February, including over 100 titles in stunning high-definition video with 5.1 Dolby Digital surround sound.” Well, today’s March 4 and, as best I can tell, Apple hasn’t kept its promise. Browse iTunes this morning with the software’s “Power Search,” and you’ll find just 411 films for rent–91 of them available in high definition. That’s 589 short of the promised 1,000–a discrepancy of nearly 60%.
Seems Apple may not have Apple TV quite right yet after all–the Hollywood licensing part of it, anyway.
UPDATE: At the Apple shareholder meeting yesterday, CEO Steve Jobs confirmed the discrepancy, saying the company’s goal of 1,000 rental titles on iTunes was short by around 600.