In a move that could have broader implications, Apple has announced that it would sell movies through its iTunes on the same day as the titles are released in DVD form.

Announced by Steve Jobs at this year’s MacWorld, the iTunes Movie Rentals service features films from all the major Hollywood studios and allows users to watch them on PCs, Macs, iPods and iPhones.

Studios previously gave DVD releases a head start of as much as 30 to 45 days over other distribution outlets to help preserve a major income source.
Apple hopes its new iTunes will help it dominate the online movie rental business in the same way it dominates the sale of music tracks with iTunes. Last month, Apple's iTunes music store managed to overcome retail giant Wal-Mart and grab the first place in the retail sales of music in the United States.

However, it remains to be seen if the Cupertino-based company will manage to replicate the same success with its movie business as it faces more entrenched competition from established companies like Amazon.com, Netflix, Blockbuster and CinemaNow.

Earlier this week, CinemaNow announced that it would allow U.S. consumers to order movies through their cell phones.

The service will allow users to watch movie trailers on their cell phones and order full-length movies that will be delivered electronically to their PC or other devices.

Also, last month it was reported that Blockbuster is secretly working on a device which will allow video content to be streamed directly to a TV. It seems like the content will be provided by Movielink, a former joint-effort of MGM, Paramount, Sony, Universal and Warner, which was acquired last year by Blockbuster. Movielink has a library of 6,600 movies.
So far, Apple TV has failed to be a success, but in January at MacWorld, Steve Jobs introduced a new, cheaper, version. Apple TV Take Two has a new software that ensures a seamless integration with Movie Rentals, allowing movie fans to rent and watch movies right from their widescreen TV, with no computer required.

And as the iTunes will provide the movies on the same day as on DVD, now Apple has all the aces up its sleeve.
Apple’s new achievement could also hurt the sales of Blu Ray discs. When Sony won the format battle with Toshiba back in February, several analysts warned that digital distribution could be a real competitor for Blu Ray format.

Earlier this week, a study released by ABI Research concluded that the Blu Ray format needs another 12 to 18 months before it kicks into gear.

Amongst the reasons cited by ABI Research to explain why the Blu Ray format is still lagging in terms of sales was the price of the movies. Blu-ray packaged media comes at a heavy premium over standard DVDs, although studios have brought prices down to the low $20-range for some titles.

On iTunes, new releases cost 14.99 dollars to download and 9.99 dollars for older titles offered in the iTunes catalog. iTunes rents newly released films for 3.99.  So far, Apple has not released any official figures about its movie sales.

So it seems like we will have not only a competition between iTunes and the other download services, but also between Apple’s online rental store and DVDs and Blu-ray discs. Who is going to win?