Analyst: Expect more studios on iTunes, but not before holidays

Piper Jaffray’s Gene Munster believes more movie studios will have content on the iTunes Store in the next six months, but not likely before the holidays. Following meetings last week with four of the six major film studios, Munster said a couple of the studios indicated that they expect to have movies on iTunes within six months, but that it may require tweaks to Apple’s pricing. “We would not expect additional studios to sign on with iTunes before the holidays, however, as most studios recognize that this change could disrupt their holiday business at retailers,” the analyst said. Munster believes there are three key reasons why other studios are taking their time in partnering with Apple: Fear of retaliation from big box retailers, copy protection issues, and a desire to have a flexible pricing model.