MUMBAI: Amazon, the world's leading online digital service, is planning to launch in the United Kingdom by the final quarter of 2008. Executives of the Amazon MP3 stores in the US have been to London to work out the details of the launch with British record company bosses, according to a report in the UK newspaper Telegraph.

The company would be competing directly with iTunes, Apple's online music store, and other digital downloading operations. The launch by Seattle-based Amazon.com will further intensify competition in the music retail market, with high street stores facing a battle to retain market share.
Although downloads accounted for only 9.2 per cent of the album market in May 2008, according to figures published by trade association The British Phonographic Industry, digital sales swallowed more than 96 per cent of the singles market during the same month.

The Telegraph report says Amazon believes it can attract an immediate following for its music retail business in Britain because MP3 tracks can be played on the majority of devices with digital music-playing capabilities.

The British launch will form part of an international rollout for Amazon MP3, the report says.