New reports suggest Apple is planning to create a new marketplace that would allow publishers to sell subscriptions for both magazines and newspapers in a structure similar to the existing App Store.
The tech industry is carefully watching the new development, with reports suggesting the “newsstand” would allow publications to sell subscriptions with Apple taking a 30% cut.
The latest report from the Wall Street Journal reports such a marketplace could launch in either October or November. One source even said it could launch next year “along with the likely introduction of a new iPad”.
The report suggests Apple wants to dominate the print industry as it has with music, media and apps. The move would also help Apple combat a growing range of tablets from competitors, like the upcoming Samsung Galaxy.
However, the report and two separate articles from Bloomberg and the Mercury News point out the proposal has been controversial within the publishing industry.
While an iPad-based subscription service would increase revenue for Apple and deliver a much-needed lifeline for print publications, some believe the market would give the tech giant too much control.
Currently, publishers can create apps and sell regular editions of their products. However, as the WSJ points out, subscription-based models will be far more lucrative and help create advertising databases.
But it will be Apple, and not the publishers, that benefit most.
The publication also reports publishers including Time, News Corp and Hearst have been involved in negotiations, and that Apple is saying at least one company is willing to sell subscriptions through the new program.
“Some print-company executives who have spoken with Apple also say the company is open to finding ways to share names or other useful information about buyers of print titles on the iPad,” it reports.
And as TechCrunch reports, the current app-based publishing system is confusing, with several different apps for even different issues of a single publication. Creating a market-based platform will allow a much cleaner and efficient market for publishers.
“Subscriptions account for something like 70% of the consumption of print media, so it’s clear that this model is needed for the iPad as well. Currently, most magazine issues cost between $4 and $5 on the device — comparable to the actual print versions — but if you look at the reviews of these apps in the App Store, nearly all of them trash the apps for not being cheaper.”
The new publishing market will face several issues before it launches, it argues, including the actual size of each file, pricing and the ability to create customer databases through subscription data.
Patrick Stafford is a freelance journalist and a former deputy editor of SmartCompany.
