iPad magazine sales low, on decline, figures show
updated 09:40 am EST, Wed December 29, 2010
Sales of Wired less than half of debut month
The iPad has so far failed to ignite digital magazine sales, data from the Audit Bureau of Circulations suggests. Although Wired managed to achieve 24,000 downloads in the iPad app's first day, and over 100,000 downloads in June, digital sales of the publication have since dropped substantially. The company averaged just 31,000 downloads each month between July and September, and October and November saw only 22,000 and 23,000 in sales, respectively.
Vanity Fair sold 8,700 downloads of its November issue, down from an August-October average of 10,500. Glamour is noted to have slipped about 20 percent a month in the distance from September to November, going from 4,301 downloads to 2,775. GQ recorded 11,000 digital buys in November, said to be the magazine's worst performance since the iPad was originally released back in April. Average monthly sales were 13,000 in the run from May to October.
One of the poorest performances by a high-profile magazine is attributed to Men's Health. Having managed only 2,800 downloads a month in spring, September and October numbers were approximately 2,000 each.
Publishers are reported to be hoping numbers will go back up as a result of holiday hardware sales. The magazine industry is currently hampered, however, by an absence of subscription support at the App Store, which forces people to buy issues individually unless downloads are tied to an outside paper subscription. Apple is believed to be working on native support, even if a resistance to making concessions in negotiations may be hampering progress.
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Oct 2004
easy to see why, iPad is too heavy to be a reader
A screen based magazine already has some limitations over a magazine. Flipping pages is not satisfying on a screen based reader, compared to an actual magazine.
But the main thing that really hurts is the weight. 1.5lbs is nothing if you set the thing on a table, but not everyone reads a magazine that way, they want to hold it in their hands.
That's where 1.5 lbs gets heavy - it's not about lifting it one time, I've seen so many comments from people thinking 1.5 lbs is so light - yes light to life one time, not hold for 20 minutes in your fingers.
It's too heavy, just plain too heavy. Plus wired is not exactly a great magazine, and the iPad doesn't exactly have 100% market penetration just yet. It's still early.
Quadruple the sales of the iPad, plus make it lighter, and soon, you'll have those sales looking better.