Word on the street has iTunes opening up shop in Russia. Apple’s online music shop is set to invade a huge booming Internet market sometime in the fourth quarter of 2012, or first quarter of 2013 according Tovedomosti (translated). But, there’s a Kremlin twist too. The tracks could apparently be priced below the $0.99 price point most of us are used to paying in the U.S. and Canada. According to its sources in the Russian music industry, Tovedomosti is reporting that a single song will cost between 11 and 20 rubles, which works out to be approximately between $ 0.34 and $ 0.63 USD.
Reports also have iPhone sales up only 5 percent from 2005 until 2011, so the iPhone explosion is certainly more of an iPhone blip in Russia, unlike western countries.
Tim Cook, during a financial call back in 2011, pointed out that Russia, as well as a handful of other countries, were not a traditionally strong market for Apple; however, he noted during that call that the markets were beginning to heat up and looked like promising emerging markets for the company. If this news is true, it sounds like things may have finally begun to break for Apple in Russia.
Source: Tovedomosti
