The first two music portals recently opened in the Czech Republic, finally enabling Czechs to download digital music legally. This is good news for companies hoping to sell digital music players here. But for Apple — the world's leader in this market — it could mean trouble. Music available on the two sites cannot be downloaded to iPods. And music through iTunes, Apple's music download program, is not yet available here. Jason King, country sales director for Apple, talks to The Prague Post about the situation, the market and more.

When promoting the Apple store, you sold the first 1,000 iPod nanos with major discounts. Isn't it bizarre that your biggest teaser, the iPod, cannot be fully utilized in this country because Czechs still don't have access to Apple's digital music store?

Yes, but why do you think Czechs still cannot legally access iTunes downloads? How long do you think it will take for Czechs to be able to do that?

One of the beauties of Apple has been its way to seductively introduce new products and services without generating premature fanfare and presumption, always teasing ardent fans and newcomers alike. Apple and the iTunes business unit operate in such a way that their roadmaps are largely unknown outside of their development quarters. There are numerous country markets worldwide which have limited access to purchasing music through iTunes. In many cases, this reality is related to digital music rights permissions, currency adaptations, market sizes and other assessment factors.

How would Czechs being able to access iTunes increase your sales?

Purchasing music through iTunes is only one of the ways in which people can enjoy music on their iPod. Any additional access to content bodes strongly for a market conscious of form and function like the Czech Republic.

Two Czech Web portals with digital music opened in November, selling music that cannot be played on Apple's iPods. Do you find this a threat?

Although, at this stage, you may not be able to download directly from a local online Czech music shop to an iPod, music purchased on any online store ultimately can be transferred into the iTunes software. Subsequently, your music can be uploaded and enjoyed on an iPod. I believe that any online medium which digitally allows the legal sale of commercial or independent music, and especially with Czech artists, will be an opportunity for everyone.

All Czech Apple stores are located in Prague. Is demand for the company's products in other regions really so small?

As a sales network, we currently have three retail Apple shops, a shop-in-shop at Bontonland and several Apple kiosks in various malls. Traditionally, I believe that many cross-sector businesses have seen Prague as the economic engine of the country. In some respects, as being the country's financial and trade center, this may have been true. However, in the past couple years, we have seen purchasing power continue to grow steadily in other parts of the country like south Bohemia and north Moravia. Since entering the market in the early 1990s, Apple has always had a dealer presence across the country.

The new Apple Store opened just prior to the start of the holiday shopping season. Was the timing strategic or is it just coincidence?

You'd have to say that Apple's partner on the project, iStyle, held to a strict plan but incorporated some contingencies which allowed for timeline flexibility. We could call it a strategic coincidence. Everywhere in consumer electronics, the fourth calendar quarter is the most important for unit sales and customer reach. For the owners of the new Apple Store, opening a retail shop as avant-garde and stylish as the Revoluční location [in Prague 1] requires an intense amount of planning and implementation. The same held true for the Brno [reseller] that opened this October. You may remember that the first Apple Center (as it was then called) in the Czech Republic at Anděl was opened around the same period in 2005.

Electronics are one of the most popular Christmas presents here. Is it the same in other countries where you have worked? How different are the Czechs from other nations in terms of Christmas shopping?

In all fairness, the shopping pattern here mirrors most other European markets where I have worked. The Czech Republic is a maturing or emerged country market in many senses, with the common outsiders' misnomer remaining that it's categorized as an emerging market. Czech shoppers and businesses are as conscious of value for money, overall quality and deal spotting as, let's say, Canadians.

When buying presents, do you avoid Apple or do you capitalize on its market position?

Technology has always captivated me, and I have tried to covertly promote new gadgets and services to friends and family. With that said, I believe presents should be unique to an individual and not focus solely on technology. For example, last year, someone close arranged, as one of the best Christmas presents for me, a trip to the Winter Olympics to see Canada play the Czech Republic in hockey.

You've said that cooking is one of your hobbies. If so, have you ever tried baking traditional Czech Christmas cookies?

Czech Christmas cookies are accountable for increasing my waistline several centimeters last year, and as such are on my blacklist, though certainly my sweet tooth will crave them, and my arm will be twisted in a couple weeks' time to enjoy a few more.

Is there anything you always wanted for Christmas but never received?