iTunes users were left unable to download music, apps, videos and e-books for around 11 hours this week. Users were unable to download new material or update existing files whilst trying to use Apple’s App Stores, music and video download services and iBooks shops. They were also left unable to gain access to email and documents stored on the iCloud facility.
The company said the problems were caused by its own engineers. It blamed an internal DNS error, with the problems starting in the early hours of the morning and coming to an end in the afternoon.
Apple’s media stores generated $2.6 billion of sales during the last quarter of 2015, the equivalent of $1.2 million an hour. This means losses of around $13 million could have potentially occurred during the downtime.
The company recently launched its new smartwatch, whilst unveiling a refreshed MacBook. It also used its Spring Forward event to release a new update to the iOS operating system. The company has denied that the outage was related to the iOS upgrade. Devices mirroring the design of the Apple Watch have already gone on sale on Alibaba in China. Some editions of the Apple Watch are set to sell for over $10,000.