Within days of its release of a new version of iTunes, Apple has now disclosed in a Tuesday announcement that the iTunes Store is being expanded into several countries; a move that will bring about a two-fold increase in the number of countries where the company's popular music-centric store already exists at present.

According to the Apple announcement, the iTunes Store has been launched in 56 new countries, including Russia, South Africa, India, and Turkey. As a result of the iTunes expansion, the store is now accessible in a total of 119 countries across the world.

Along with announcing the expansion of iTunes Store to an additional 56 countries, Apple has also revealed that it has selected local and international music to suit the needs of its new audiences. The store will not only enable the users to purchase music, but will also give them the advantage of renting movies and TV shows.

The expansion of iTunes by Apple comes at a time when the Apple's flagship digital content hub is being substantially challenged by alternative services which Google and its YouTube site have launched; as well as the services from dedicated streaming providers like Netflix and Spotify.

About Apple's recent launch of iTunes Store in under-developed markets, Ovum media analyst Adrian Drury said that the company will "face competition from locally developed services, as well as high usage of [Google's] YouTube," and added that the new markets "don't have the same competitive threat as more developed markets."