Despite the limelight falling to many of its competitors and new startups in 2010, Apple has maintained its dominance in the US market for online movies, accounting for 64.5% of consumer spending according to IHS Screen Digest.
Unfortunately for Apple, this is down from 2009's 74.4%.
Total US revenues from electronic sell-through and Internet VOD services were up 60% in 2010.
Behind Apple, Microsoft's Zune Video platform secured 17.9% of consumer spending (up from 2009's 11.6%) while Sony secured 7.2% (up from 2009's 5.7%).
However, the report sees Wal-Mart's aggressive price drop of Vudu content to 99 cents in Q4 as a signal it could become Apple's biggest rival in 2011.
Vudu has survived a defunct STB and early minimal integration and has become a de facto pay-per-item VOD service for smart TVs and devices from most of the major players.
"Apple faced serious competition from Microsoft's Zune Video and Sony Corp's PlayStation Store, as well as from Amazon and--most significantly--Wal-Mart," said IHS research director Arash Amel.
"However, iTunes managed to grow because of the introductions of the iPad and the second-generation Apple TV, which have spurred the company's movie rental offerings and have invigorated the iTunes multi-screen ecosystem. We expect that in the United States, Apple's strong performance in [Internet-based VOD] will allow it to continue to bypass the video on demand services offered by many major cable operators," said Amel. "Although Wal-Mart is not on the charts yet, the company soon will become a major player if its current momentum continues."
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