Digital downloading to expand in Europe.

APPLE COMPUTERS' success with its digital download store in the US market has prompted it to move into Europe. Apple will face stiff competition from already established e-tailers when it launches in Europe in 2004. Microsoft portal msn.co.uk, hmv.co.uk and France's FNAC MTV Networks Europe and Italian internet service provider Tiscali also operate pan-European services. Additionally, American digital music stores RealNetworks' Rhapsody and Roxio's new commercial version of Napster plan to enter Europe next year. Sources predict that pioneering online bookseller amazon.com will also join the fray.