iPad Magazines Not Fairing As Well As Hoped

Remember all that hype earlier this year about how digital devices–specifically the iPad–were the Godsend that the flailing print industry has been looking for? Suddenly, magazines, which have been failing one by one, were getting a big, sexy life raft: a small, portable, much-hyped, ultra-popular electronic tablet on which they could sell digital magazines, magazines that functioned as smoothly as their paper counterparts. The iPad brought a huge, growing market of tech-savvy, well-heeled customers that wanted content. What could be better?

Well, apparently, sales, sales could be better. Despite robust launch numbers, all of the iPad-based digital magazines that report their sales numbers have dropped off significantly since launching earlier this year, according to numbers by the Audit Bureau of Circulations.

When Wired magazine launched, it seemed like the perfect iPad companion: a magazine about the latest tech for people that are obviously buying the latest tech. Indeed, the market responded with more than 100,000 downloads for the month of June. But since then, it’s taken a rather steep slide, selling only 22,000 copies in October and 23,000 in November–less than it sold on its first day. Other magazines that have taken hits over time include Vanity Fair, GQ and Glamour.

The industry is consoling itself with the idea that holiday hardware sales will help it increase digital circulation in the months to come, but without subscriptions or more competitive pricing of some kind, that seems unlikely. [via Electronista]