Happy Birthday iTunes! It is just over a year since Apple launched iTunes and the media continues to talk up the second coming of the music industry, whose saviour appears in the form of affable Steve Jobs. iTunes sold a total of 70 million tracks online in its first year, well below its target of 100 million, but a respectable showing, especially since it spawned a small flock of competitors determined to out-sell iTunes.

Germany’s Sky platform has shifted focus from maximising net additions to improving quality of new recruits, delivering accelerated ARPU growth and a likely future reduction in churn.

In 2014, Sky will turn back to more proactive recruitment, but we caution against expectations of an improvement in the underlying trend growth rate.

Sky is in on course to deliver its first full year positive EBITDA in 2013, although we still don’t expect cash flow to follow suit before FY 2015.