When Apple launched the iPad in 2010, magazine and newspaper publishers were thrilled to add apps that allowed users to read their magazines.
They hoped that the instantly popular tablet device would help boost their slumping sales and make connections with people who want their reading material in digital form.
Publishers, however, are less than excited about the high costs of doing business with Apple. The cost for purchasing just one digital issue of a magazine is often the same as buying a print magazine, and the vast majority of titles cant be purchased with a monthly subscription.
This means that consumers will need to seek out and purchase each new issue as it arrives and theyll be paying much more than they would for a standard print subscription. Understandably, for publishers this has produced disappointing returns for app development. Consumers just arent ready to pay $250 per year for an app.
Publishers like Hearst, Conde Nast and Time Inc. are eagerly looking forward to the launch of Android-based tablets and technologies from Google and Blackberry. The new tablets may be able to give publishers, and readers, just what they are looking for subscriptions at a reasonable rate to encourage digital readers.