iTunes Store Finally Arrives in Singapore

Well, yes, the iTunes Store has already been operating in many countries around the world. But this little country here in South East Asia hasn’t had the privilege of having its own iTunes Store. As much as we want to be a first world country, having world-class infrastructure and be an integral part of the global economy, we do not, for various reasons unbeknownst to us, have our own iTunes Store. That is, until today.

It’s so ironical, don’t you think, that the iTunes Store being entire online, yet its operations are somehow bounded by territorial borders. While the Nokia Music store had launched so many years ago in Singapore, and there being so many other online music sellers that serve Singapore customers, it has taken Apple that long to make the iTunes Store here a reality.

So if you have been waiting all these years for music, movies, and what not from the iTunes Store, well, your wait is over.

Prices at the iTunes Store Singapore is, surprisingly, very competitive. I’m surprised that some random albums that I selected were actually priced cheaper than the same in the U.S. store. For example, the Linkin Park Living Things that’s currently featured, is priced US$1.29 per track and US$11.99 for the whole album, but just S$1.28 per track and S$9.98 for the whole album.

Other music are priced quite the same as in the U.S. (i.e. after applying the typical US$1=S$1.30 exchange rate).

I randomly searched for a couple of music, and found that several titles are found in the U.S. store cannot be found in the Singapore store. So despite the 20 million songs supposedly being available, the selection doesn’t isn’t quite as comprehensive as the U.S. offering. On the other hand, the Singapore store does feature Asian genres.

Movies are also available, but there are no TV Shows in the Singapore iTunes Store.  Movies for purchase are mostly available only in Standard Definition, although there are some available in HD. Movie prices seem to vary widely. Standard Definition movies can cost up to S$19.98 if there is no HD format available HD format when available typically cost S$19.98. Rentals are available, and they typically cost $3.98 and $4.98 for Standard Definition and HD formats respectively.

Now that movies are available, the Apple TV finally makes sense in Singapore. The Apple Store Singapore now lists the Apple TV as being available at S$148.