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News that Tesco is planning to begin selling MP3s from next month was inevitably headlined as a challenge to Apple's dominant iTunes Store, but according to NPD the evidence suggests that new stores may in fact benefit Apple, by increasing the demand for downloads.

NPD estimates that just 10% of Amazon's customers had previously bought music through iTunes, perhaps because both attract different consumer demographics. For example, Amazon is more attractive to males - 64% compared to iTunes' 44% - while Apple's store is more popular among teenagers - 18% as opposed to just 3% for Amazon.

NPD analyst Russ Crupnick believes that it is Amazon's strength in the CD market that gives it a user base very different to iTunes. And it is these CD buyers who are buying its downloads.

"The

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fact that Amazon's early growth does not appear to be at the expense of Apple iTunes is a healthy indication that the digital music customer pool can expand into new consumer groups who have not yet joined the iTunes community," he said.

NPD estimates that Amazon's sales are around one tenth of Apple's, though that is certain to increase once it launches outside the US, a move planned for this year. But while iTunes' market share may decline, its absolute sales seem certain to go on rising. One reason for this, according to NPD, is its convenience. While Amazon has a more DRM-free content, sometimes at a lower price than iTunes, its browser-based store is no match for the one-click simplicity of buying a track from iTunes and transferring it to an iPod.

"While it's still very early in the game, there's no evidence that Apple customers are deserting iTunes for a new alternative, either because of price or DRM restrictions," Crupnick said.

Tesco's downloads offering promises around 3.3 million MP3 tracks and will replace its current, DRM-laden service. The retail giant said that it would be "competitively priced" - probably at around 80p per track, matching iTunes' 79p price tag.