The guys at the Wall Street Journal figure this is a win-win for Apple because it is a great marketing tool just in time for Christmas, irrespective of whether one buys Beatles music.
(video clip below)
For the Citigroup-owned EMI, it will certainly be a good thing. Guy Hands is probably not that amused though. Can this revive digital music sales all around? I doubt it, but I might check out what’s on iTunes.
By the way, here’s what the top 40 albums list from iTunes looked like when Mashable checked it out:
Note, the Wall Street Journal clip goes into a bit about tablet sales. Mary Meeker recently talked about the mobile space in glowing terms during her much-anticipated presentation at the Web 2.0 Summit, with smartphone sales out-pacing computer sales. She uses the experience in Japan as a reference. Oppenheimer seems to think the growth in the tablet space will be robust and allow competitors beyond Apple a stake in the market. For the moment though, competitors like Samsung are flailing, as their Galaxy Tab is not selling as well as anticipated (see here for example).
Also see: Apple’s Pricing Advantage from Daring Fireball. I found this a good article for understanding where Apple’s margins come despite having reduced its traditionally premium prices.