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Nat Ives writes that six months into the magazines-on-iPad experiment, sales have ranged from mixed to disappointing. Perhaps not surprisingly, tech-focused titles seem to be faring better than fashion magazines:
- Popular Science: average monthly sales of 14,034 from April through July
- Wired: 105,000 sales in June; 31,000 in July; 28,000 in August; 32,000 in September
- Men’s Health: average sales of 3,174 for April, May, June and July/August issues
- People: 10,800 downloads per weekly issue (includes print subscriber downloads)
- Glamour: 4,099 sales for its September issue
- GQ: average sales of 13,310 from April through August (includes iPhone and iPad editions)
- Vanity Fair: average monthly sales of 8,925 from June through September (includes iPhone and iPad editions)
Ives points out that digital newsstand sales are not the only measure of success; advertising revenues are also important. But, he writes, publishers would still like to have more control over both their digital subscription options and the storefront itself:
“Magazines’ iPad editions won’t really get in gear until big publishers and Apple agree on some kind of system for subscription offers. But even before then, they’d like a simple ‘magazines’ category in the iPad’s App Store. ‘They’ve got to look for Glamour to find it,’ said Bill Wackermann, senior VP and publishing director for Conde Nast’s Glamour, W, Details and Brides. ‘Imagine you created a magazine and said “It’s in this pile, you’ve got to find it.” We all need to be there because digital magazines aren’t going away, but it will be different when digital newsstands are available.’ “
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