Forrester has started to backtrack on its statement earlier in the week that Apple's iTunes sales may not be doing as well as the consistent sale of iPods may suggest.

In a post titled: "iTunes sales are NOT plummeting! Press credibility, on the other hand..." on the company's blogging website, Josh Bernoff has written that Forrester merely:

"Put out a simple little report about iPods and iTunes based on credit card transactions and publicly stated Apple data."

According to researchers Forrester in the blog, the Media got the facts wrong, however Bernoff, the post's author, still states that some of the facts aren't complete void of truth and while:

"iTunes sales are not collapsing. Our credit card transaction data shows a real drop between the January post-holiday peak and the rest of the year, but with the number of transactions we counted it's simply not possible to draw this conclusion."

However, the post does state "iTunes sales are leveling off" before laying into Apple suggesting they are "extremely stingy with information about their business and public comment".

Bernoff goes on to say "Their unwillingness to comment on the record or off about anything they're working on or any industry results beyond the basic statistics fuels speculation, pro and con, from their supporters and detractors".

"In the research business we like facts - and every other technology company is more open with them. So maybe it's time for Apple to share a bit more. When the real bad news hits - and it's inevitable, no company gets everything right - that openness would pay off."

The post comes just hours after Pocket-lint spoke with Alan Hely, Corporate communications director for EMEA, who told us that Apple is refuting the results of a Forrester Research survey that iTunes sales are declining saying that they are “simply incorrect”.

Hely didn't give Pocket-lint any financial details to discredit the claim, however did say that "iTunes holds a market share of around 80% of the legal downloading market".

In the US it sells around 6% of all music, whether in stores or online.

Matt Phillips, Communications Director for the UK music industry's body, the BPI, says that overall, music downloads are increasing steadily. “In 2004 we were selling 14,000 downloads a week in the UK, until the two main retailers launched, which were Napster and iTunes”, he told Pocket-lint.

“iTunes then sold 400,000 in its first week. In 2004 overall, 5.8 million downloads were sold; over 26 million were sold in 2005."

Until Apple releases financial figures of iTunes revenue and profit in January, it will be difficult to tell definitively if iTunes sales in particular are increasing or decreasing.

We will keep you posted.

>> Read - The Forrester Blog
>> Read - The original Register story