The 3rd WAN-IFRA International E-Reading and Tablets Conference, held last week in Hamburg, Germany, sought to address the issue of how publishers can turn the vast potential of tablet computers and mobile e-reading devices into successful business models. The conference attracted around 260 participants from 40 countries. This is three times the turnout last year. The post conference report is scheduled for release in November.
During a presentation on how new devices are changing the consumption of news, Nick Thomas, a consumer product strategy analyst at Forrester Research, noted that the demand for tablet PCs will be broader and faster-growing than e-readers. However, e-readers have a future as a single-function device for reading e-books, magazines and newspapers, he pointed out. According to the moderator of the conference, Kristina Sabelström Möller, Senior Research Manager for Emerging Digital Platforms and Business Development at the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA), mobile e-reading is about having a complete ecosystem for many e-reading products and many target groups, with a totally consumer oriented technology running behind it.
It was observed that while consumers are resistant to paying for online news, they seem much more open to pay on mobile e-reading devices. For single copy purchase, consumers are willing to pay the equivalent of newsstand prices on mobile devices, but subscription acceptance varies from market to market.
Readers in the US, for example, say they would agree to pay one-third of the print subscription price for a newspaper, according to Forrester Research. In Switzerland, it is up to 50 percent of the print subscription price, according to a test by Codex, an initiative from Swiss publishers and mobile operator Swisscom. In the UK, readers were ready to pay close to 70 percent of the print price for the 30-day subscription offer of The Sun on the iPad, said Darren Goldsby, Director of Digital Solutions at News International.
Reflecting concerns that digital revenues are failing to meet the revenues generated by print - and the need for substantial revenues to support credible news gathering operations - many speakers highlighted the importance of offering both content and convenience that would convince people to pay. Ease of payment and a compelling content store for the devices were seen as essential.
The appeal of the devices for advertisers was also discussed. McKinnis of Gannett expressed concern about new 7-inch (18 cm) tablets coming to the market that might lessen this appeal. Gannett, which is focusing on the Amazon Kindle and the iPad, has also decided to bet on HTML5, Android and Windows Versions for its future developments.
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