San Francisco  - Apple's online store iTunes has notched up 5 billion song sales, the company said Thursday.

The store, which was introduced in 2001 as a companion to the company's iconic iPod music player, surpassed Wal-Mart earlier this year as the top selling music store in the US and boasts over 8 million songs in its catalog.

The company also said it now rents or sells over 50,000 movies per day, making iTunes the world's most popular online movie store. (dpa)