Apple set to strike iTunes for Windows

Coming soon to a Windows personal computer (PC) near you: Apple Computer Inc’s popular iTunes online music store, which analysts say will join an already crowded market that could mute its chances of repeating the success of the Macintosh-only version.

Apple is set to unveil this week the Windows-compatible version of its online music service. Yet now, some analysts say that while iTunes for Windows may be just the thing for fans, it may be coming too late for the broader market. There are already similar services for Windows users, such as MusicMatch, already entrenched and another called BuyMusic.com. File-swapping service Napster has resurrected itself as a pay service, now under a parent company, Roxio Inc.

‘‘They’re going to have a serious problem with the Windows community,’’ said Rob Enderle, principal of market research firm, the Enderle Group. ‘‘If they could have gone there first, they could have carved out a beachhead.’’ Apple unveiled the iTunes service for the 3 per cent of the PC market that uses Macintosh computers in April. Incorporated into its popular and easy-to-use iTunes software for managing digitised songs, the interface is simple, and songs cost 99 cents each to download.