iTunes music store back on track

Apple Computer’s popular iTunes Music Store appears to be back to normal, three days after shoppers wielding new Christmas present iPods and gift cards faced error messages and long delays while trying to download songs.

Apple has not explained why some shoppers experienced 20-minute delays to download a song.

However, Wall Street analysts said the delays were probably caused by music sales that dramatically exceeded the company’s own forecasts and resulted in too many people trying to access the site at once.

Four times as many people visited iTunes on Christmas than at the same time last year, according to online market researcher Hitwise.

Apple commands about 75% of the market for downloaded music, but could lose as much as 5% of that market share in 2007 because of increased competition from rival services, according to Wall Street analysts Piper Jaffray.

The company’s stock price fell more than 1% to $80.49 dollars (€61.09) in trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market yesterday.