Apple is expanding the reach of its iTunes Store in Asia, offering the service to people living in Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Macau, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, Sri Lanka and Vietnam.
Up until now consumers in Asian countries have been able to download apps and games from the App Store onto their iPhones and iPads but have not had the ability to access music and movie downloads from the iTunes Store.
The new Asian iTunes Stores will feature music from local artists such as Jay Chou, Girls Generation and Andy Lau and will enable customers to download music from a catalog of over 20 million songs.
Customers will also be able to rent or purchase movies from the iTunes Stores.
While Apple has opened a dedicated App Store for its Chinese customers it is yet to launch a localized iTunes Store in the country. China is one of Apple’s fastest growing markets and is the second largest iPhone App Market behind the US.
Consumers in the 12 announced Asian territories can access the iTunes Store as part of iTunes 10.6.3 for Mac and Windows, available as a free download from apple.com/asia/itunes.