iTunes Store Launches In 12 Asian Countries Including Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand

Today, Apple announced the opening of  iTunes Store in 12 countries in Asia, including Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand, Taiwan, Malaysia, the Philippines, Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Macau, Sri Lanka and Vietnam.

Users from these countries can now purchase and download local and international music straight from the iTunes Store. This may just help ease down illegal downloads and sharing of music in Asia.

Some say this move by Apple is quite delayed, considering that the iPhone is quite popular in Asia. In fact, in 2011 the island of Singapore had nearly 70% adoption of iOS.

My iTunes now has various Asian artists listed such as Jay Chou, Wonder Party, Cao Thai Son. iTunes also includes international artists. However, the currency thats displayed is still in U.S. dollars.

Unfortunately for Bollywood fans, India will have to wait for their local music and movies to be available from the iTunes Store. Meanwhile, Indonesia, which is the largest smartphone market in Southeast Asia, is not in the list yet.