We knew Apple would take the #1 spot from Wal-mart, now it’s being reported that Apple has moved into the #1 spot for selling music, making the online music store the first retailer to beat a brick-and-mortar store.
The news was announced in an e-mail sent this afternoon to some Apple employees, a copy of which was seen by Ars Technica. It includes a screenshot of an Excel file showing the top ten music retailers in the US for January 2008, and Apple is at the top of the list. The iTunes Store leads the pack with 19 percent, Wal-Mart (which includes the brick-and-mortar stores as well as its online properties) is second with 15 percent, and Best Buy is third with 13 percent. Amazon is a distant fourth at 6 percent, trailed by the likes of Borders, Circuit City, and Barnes & Noble. Rhapsody is in the tenth slot with 1 percent.
I wonder if Wal-mart and Best Buy will argue that Apple is not a retailer because it sells their music online and needs to be removed from the list. Then again, Apple has been on the list and moving up for years and no one complained back then!