Apple is considering abandoning the further development of iTunes after 18 years of operation of the service.
CEO Tim Cook is expected to announce the changes at the upcoming Worldwide Developers Conference. iTunes will be replaced by three separate apps for music, TV and podcasts - Music, TV and Podcasts.
The event, which will focus on software updates and Apple's new approach to apps, will take place in early June 2019 in San Jose, California. At WWDC, Apple also plans to unveil an updated macOS 10.15 operating system and updates to Maps, Apple Books, Home, Mail, and more.
One of the confirmations of Apple's intentions on the closure of the service was that the official iTines Facebook and Instagram pages were disabled and cleaned up at the end of last week. Content from the removed pages has been moved to the new Apple TV pages.
The new changes and abandonment of iTunes development will be implemented against the background of Apple's repositioning from a manufacturer of computer and digital equipment to a company developing a number of entertainment services.
The iTunes platform was first launched on January 9, 2001 and was intended for storing and downloading music. Thanks to a convenient digitization service, as well as the purchase of legal music content, iTunes has become a revolutionary product in the market. But iTunes technology has become obsolete due to the great competition in the music space, as rival companies, including Spotify, have created successful streaming models, experts say.
Spotify service, which now offers unlimited access to its music catalog for £9.99 a month, has 217 million users worldwide and 100 million paid subscribers. By comparison, Apple Music has only about 56 million paying subscribers.
