iTunes hits 200 million download mark

[Mac Reporter]

Apple Computer on Thursday said it has now sold more than 200 million songs through its iTunes Music Store--and it has new plans to keep the sales trend continuing upward.

It took the company 11 months to sell its first 50 million songs and then another four months to get to 100 million songs. Three months later, the company hit 150 million, and it took just two months to get to 200 million.

"I like the trend," Eddy Cue, Apple's vice president of applications, said in an interview.

Apple has not only kept its sales growing, but it has maintained a commanding share of the online sales market, despite stepped-up competition from stores using Microsoft's Windows Media file format. The company also faces an uphill battle to convert those still using free file-swapping services such as Kazaa.

"We're still competing with piracy," Cue said.

To keep the store growing, Apple is moving in several directions, including its deal with Motorola to create a cell phone in the first half of next year that can play iTunes music.

Read more at CNET News.com.