EBooks: changing the publishing industry, PwC

The following chapter summarizes 

consumers’ attitude with regard to 

the new type of reading: whether 

they will buy eBooks and eReaders 

or tablets; what conditions will 

factor into whether they choose 

to buy; and what expectations 

they have with regard to the 

development of the book market.

Discussion: 

Electronic 

Newspapers  

and Magazines

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17

Turning the Page: The Future of eBooks

The development so far

Newspaper and periodical publishers 

have been affected by the same trend 

for many years: Circulation figures are

declining, and advertising budgets are 

increasingly being shifted to the Internet. 

In addition, readers are going online 

more frequently, demanding their news in 

digital form, but they are not prepared to 

pay for such a service. In order to open up 

new sources of revenue, compensate for 

falling circulation figures and stagnating

advertising revenue, and make themselves 

more independent of advertising business, 

publishers are increasingly concentrating 

on paid content for their online products 

and digital revenue models. For example, 

USA Today announced in August 2010 a 

strategy that places digital content in the 

center of all activities. Apple is considered 

to be the solution in this respect because 

the company with its App Store has been 

the first company to make paid content

acceptable. Apps for mobile devices are 

expected to curtail users’ expectations 

for free content from the Internet, and to 

create new revenue streams for publishers. 

The App Store is proving fertile ground 

for publishers. So is the Kindle, which 

allows customers to buy single copies 

or subscriptions to newspapers and 

magazines.

No wonder publishers were excited 

when Apple announced the iPad, a tablet 

that resembles an iPhone with a larger 

screen. In the weeks leading up to the 

iPad’s launch, it was nearly impossible 

to find a newspaper, website, blog, TV

station, or radio that did not mention the 

device. Mathias Döpfner, CEO of German 

newspaper publisher Axel Springer, 

said, “Every publisher should thank God 

every day that Steve Jobs is rescuing 

the publishing industry with the iPad.” 

Several US newspapers and magazines 

have launched apps for the iPad. Free apps 

include the The New York Times Daily 

Edition and USA Today. Paid apps, which 

cost between US$3.99 and US$4.99 for 

each issue, include Wired, the New Yorker, 

and Vanity Fair.