iTunes Rental Pricing Flexibility and Earlier Releases

When Steve Jobs announced iTunes Movie Rentals at the Macworld San Francisco 2008 keynote, he said that the digital rentals would appear 30 days after their DVD release. This delay is typically mandated by the movie studios who hold back "on demand" products, such as rentals, for 30-45 days after DVD release to avoid sales cannibalization.

Readers have noticed, however, that several movies are appearing in iTunes Rentals only days after their DVD release. These movies have included The Invasion, No Reservations and Michael Clayton. The delay from DVD release has ranged from 1 day to about a week. It seems the 30 day delay may not be enforced with all releases.

Meanwhile, Apple also appears to have some pricing flexibility with the movies. Last weekend, they ran a "Weekend Movie Rental Special" and discounted Breakfast at Tiffany's rental to $0.99 from the usual $2.99 fee.