NPD today released a new report highlighting the U.S. online digital video market for 2012, finding that Apple continues to dominate both purchases and rentals.
In looking at purchased content, Apple holds a commanding 67% of the TV show market and 65% of the movie market, with its closest competitors Xbox Video and Amazon each holding roughly 10% of the market.
While the competition is tighter in the rental market, Apple still holds a solid lead with 45% of the market for digital movie rentals, with Amazon taking second place at 18%.
“Apple has successfully leveraged its first-mover advantage and of iTunes, iOS and the popularity of iPhone and iPad to dominate the digital sale and rental markets for movies and music,” said Russ Crupnick, senior vice president of industry analysis at NPD. “While worthy competitors have come along, no other retailer has so thoroughly dominated its core entertainment product categories for so long.”
Notably, NPD's study does not include subscription services such as Netflix and on-demand content from cable providers. Previous studies including those types of content have found Apple's market share shrinking to roughly 5% in the face of Netflix's overwhelming strength.
Monday October 19, 2026 9:37 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
Apple today sent out invites for an experience in Los Angeles on Wednesday, October 28, and the "Pro and tell" tagline on the invitation likely means that the rumored MacBook models with touch-enabled OLED displays will stick with MacBook Pro branding instead of the once-rumored "MacBook Ultra" name.
The long-rumored "iPhone Ultra" ended up being named iPhone Duo, so speculation that Apple...
Tuesday October 20, 2026 11:12 am PDT by Juli Clover
With just three days to go until the iPhone Duo is released, Apple is getting ready for the launch. Behind the scenes, the App Store now has screenshots of Apple's built-in apps running on the Duo. We've seen some apps in marketing materials, but images of the ones we haven't seen give us an idea of what it will be like using the iPhone Duo day to day.
Many apps are shown in landscape...
Monday October 19, 2026 9:05 am PDT by Juli Clover
Apple's Greg Joswiak today hinted at new product announcements coming next week, sharing a social media post that says "Can't wait to pro and tell next week."
Rumors suggest Apple is planning to debut the new MacBook Pro with an OLED touchscreen display, an M6 entry-level MacBook Pro, an M6 iMac, an iPad mini with an OLED display.
Can't wait to pro and tell next week....
Apple TV needs to offer In-Theatre rentals of all major motion pictures.
I would set it up where they became available the week or two after opening weekend at a price point of around $40-$50 to rent for a 24 hour period.
Being a married man with a 5 year old, it is tough to get out to the movies to see the blockbusters especially in the summer time with numerous movies coming out week after week.
You figure that by the time my wife and I pay for a babysitter, 2 movie tickets, soda and popcorn we have already dropped ~$60-$80 for the night. Paying even $50 for a rental still saves us money, we are not on any time tables and we can watch the movies from home without having to deal with people's rude behaviors.
Apple TV needs to offer In-Theatre rentals of all major motion pictures.
Unfortunately, Apple has little control of when studios decide to release movies to rental. Studios need to support their brick-&-morter theaters first.
Apple's first foldable iPhone, with a book-style design featuring a 5.4-inch outer display and a 7.6-inch inner display with a minimal crease down the middle.
