The iPad has been an excellent platform for eBooks, newspapers, and magazines. People downloaded over five million books in the first 65 days on the iPad, according to Steve Jobs’ keynote at WWDC. It’s amazing to think about how many people have downloaded that amount of books. There is also another milestone to talk about, and it comes in the form of a magazine. I’m talking about the Wired Magazine iPad Edition app.
PatrickJ of Just Another iPad Blog writes that the Wired Magazine iPad Edition app has surpassed physical magazine sales in a little over a week:
“After just nine days, Condé Nast’s magazine Wired is reporting an astonishing feat: the sales of its iPad edition are set to surpass those of its print edition. The New York Observer reports that just a little over a week after its initial release, the magazine’s iPad edition has already sold 79,000 copies. Considering that Wired’s newsstand sales average around 80,000 a month, it seems safe to assume at this point that the sales of the iPad edition will soon surpass those of the print edition.”
That is really impressive when digital downloads outpace that of physical sales in just over a week from being released. This is the power of digital media, and I definitely see a bright future for it. It will still be a long time before printed media is replaced by digital media. However, I feel that when iPads and other digital reading devices become as ubiquitous as the iPod, then you will see a shift in the way people consume media.
Moreover some might feel that this initial rise in sales is due to the fact that it is new and won’t last. PatrickJ comments, “If they are smart and offer some good iPad edition subscription rates, that should give sales another boost.” I would have to agree with him. You have to change things up if you want to keep people interested in your product. You need to make it fresh. If Wired can do this, then I would say they have a success on their hands. If not, I still think they will do well. Not 79,000 in a little over a week, but well.
Photo Credit: WIRED1
Article Via Just Another iPad Blog
