Apple’s new Newsstand feature, one of the major new features in iOS 5 that keeps track of your magazine, newspaper and other subscription content, is making some serious waves – and serious money for content providers.
Several publishers have reported tremendous gains after implementing support for Apple’s Newsstand. For instance, MacStories points out a report from paidContent which explains how Exact Editions has benefitted:
Exact Editions, which says it made about 10 percent of the Newsstand app titles on iTunes Store, says downloads of freemium sample editions jumped by 14x in just a few days, whilst some titles’ actual sales have more than doubled.
Meanwhile, TheNextWeb points out an even more remarkable report from The Association of Online Publishers regarding how Newsstand increased Future Publishing’s monthly sales increase by 750% in just 4 days. Future CEO Mark Wood issued the following statement in response:
Future had sold more digital editions in the past four days through Apple’s Newsstand than in a normal month. It’s clear that Newsstand creates an amazing opportunity for publishers – and I’m committed to continue driving our brands through this great new distribution channel.
Newsstand provides an excellent opportunity for publishers to showcase their publications directly within the iTunes store, and helps make subscription content as seamless as possible on iOS devices, automatically retrieving new editions as they become available and making the content simple to read.
With excellent results like these already being provided by significant publishers, I’d be surprised if publisher adoption of Newsstand didn’t skyrocket in the coming months.
