Apple Inc. announced that its Apple iTunes store is now open in the Singapore and in 11 other Asian countries, which include Hong Kong, Taiwan, Macau, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia Laos, Brunei, and Sri Lanka.

Asia is an increasingly important market to Apple - operating revenue doubled in the past quarter year on year, surpassing Europe.

Apple noted that there are more than 20 million songs available for purchase, in which a dedicated section called “Original Pinoy Music” was created especially for the Filipinos, with customers also to be able to enjoy their favorite movies from the iTunes Store.

“All music on the iTunes Store comes in iTunes Plus, Apple‘s DRM-free format with high-quality 256 kbps AAC encoding for audio virtually indistinguishable from the original recordings.” A statement reads at Apple.com that day, noting that purchases to be made require a valid credit card with a billing address in country.

“Customers can also rent or purchase movies from the iTunes Store, with many available in stunning HD, from major studios including 20th Century Fox, Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, The Walt Disney Studios, and Warner Bros. Pictures.” Apple added, with China not included in the list.

“Music not purchased from the iTunes Store can gain the same benefits by using iTunes Match, a new service that stores your entire music library in iCloud for access at any time, from any iOS device. iTunes Match is available for purchase in the new countries added today,” Apple explained further.