Outsell, Inc. Announces New Research on How Mobile E-Reading is Changing the Consumer Magazine Marketplace

Burlingame, CA, and London, UK—October 7, 2010—Outsell, Inc., the leading research and advisory firm for the information industry, is building on its unique expertise with the release of new research that examines how mobile devices are rewriting the consumer magazine landscape.

Outsell studied nearly 400 consumers who own a smartphone and/or an e-reader, along with 200 consumer advertisers, and focused on a variety of topics critical to publishers migrating their content to mobile devices. Topics included: types of magazine content consumed on devices, the number of magazine issues or subscriptions consumers have purchased on them, consumers’ intention to buy magazine apps in the future, how publishers are investing in mobile, and the likelihood of marketers to advertise on mobile magazine platforms. Top findings are:

• Mobile e-reading is still in its very early days – Over 90% of these “highly mobile” consumers still haven’t purchased magazine content through devices, and over 56% of advertisers aren’t yet active in mobile.

• However, mobile habits are forming – Mobile devices are becoming a ‘third hand.’ These consumers are spending nearly 25% of their time using them for daily communications, along with social networking, finding products and services, and reading content.

• The iPad is the device of choice. With little or no competition, 24% of ”mobile consumers” plan to buy an iPad in the next three months, twice as many as those who will purchase the Android (12 %) or Kindle (11%).

• Users are curating their ‘app portfolio,’ planning to download fewer apps in the future. This group of mobile affluent consumers have downloaded about 30 apps over the last six months, but are using only 13% of them daily or weekly.

“Consumers are taking their offline habits online,” says Anthea Stratigos, Outsell’s CEO and Co-founder, who presented the research. “We have a handful of magazines on our coffee table, and our cable channels are chock-full of bundles but we manage to watch the few that matter. Online, with thousands of search results, we focus on ‘the first page.’ Users narrow their choices when given so many options, and this will play out in apps once the app frenzy matures.”

Among other points of interest:

• Consumers will take the magazine brands that matter online with them. 43% indicate that when they plan to purchase magazines, they will do so in both digital and print formats. Print-only, though, is still the primary choice.

• On the advertiser side of the equation, ad spending strategies will mirror companies’ web-based strategies, evolving to direct-to-consumer marketing, as well as investments in their own mobile experiences and apps. This is a revenue opportunity that publishers can claim by positioning themselves as partners to advertisers, helping them to develop and deliver mobile marketing services programs.

Ms. Stratigos shared the research results as a speaker during this week’s American Magazine Conference (AMC) hosted by the MPA – The Association of Magazine Media.

The full research data will be published in November 2010. Excerpts are available for download on Outsell’s website. Publishers may request a full slide deck with the initial findings as presented at the American Magazine Conference (AMC) by contacting Scott Templeman, stempleman@outsellinc.com, 617-497-9443. Journalists that would like to interview Anthea Stratigos about the findings or request a copy should contact Dawn Ringel, Warner Communications, 781-449-8456 or dawn@warnerpr.com.

ABOUT OUTSELL, INC.
Outsell is the only research and advisory firm focused on advancing the publishing and information industries. Our international team provides independent, fact-based analysis and actionable advice about competitors, markets, operational benchmarks, and best practices, so our clients thrive and grow in today's fast-changing digital and global environment. Outsell tracks and analyzes over 7,000 information industry companies, as well as the needs, habits, and spending patterns of advertisers, enterprise information buyers, and end users. Outsell’s headquarters are in Burlingame, CA, with offices in London and in Cambridge, MA. See www.outsellinc.com.