Apple Plans EU Expansion of iTunes Next Month

Apple Computer is planning the next wave of expansion for its popular iTunes online music store with a multi-country European launch in October, the services chief architect said on Wednesday. "We are well on pace to launch more EU stores. We will do it next month," Eddie Cue, Apples vice president of applications told music executives at the annual Popkomm conference in the German capital.

In typical Apple style, the computer maker gave scant details of the hotly anticipated launch. He told reporters on the sidelines it would likely include more than five new countries in the next wave of stores. "It will cover a good portion of Western Europe," he said of the launch, but declined to elaborate.

Operating in Britain, France, Germany and the United States, iTunes has sold over 125 million downloads. While it has been a runaway hit in the United States and Britain, it has had a relatively tougher time in continental Europe, where online piracy runs rampant.

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