What Apple's iPad means for the customer publishing industry
28 Jan 2010
Category: News
Source: APA Digital
After months of rumours, leaks and press speculation Apple finally unveiled what it hopes could be a game changing new computer the iPad.
Designed to fill what Apple CEO Steve Jobs sees as a void between smartphones and notebooks, the iPad is a tablet based PC that uses a similar operating system to Apple's best selling iPhone. Via its touch screen interface users can surf the web, watch music and video and undertake basic work tasks. The tablet is also compatible with the over 140,000 apps that have been developed for the iPhone, although Apple expects that a whole new generation of apps will be developed specifically for the iPad.
Apple also introduced a new concept which it is calling iBook. This is a new ereader system for the device which will offer a range of books from a number of high profile publishers. iPad owners will be able to download and pay for titles through the Apple app store interface. The device goes on sale in the Spring with the cheapest model expected to retail for between £350-400 in the UK.
So why is this a big deal for publishers? Well, in addition to iBook the new iPad will also display magazines and periodicals on its 9.7inch screen in a manner that is more akin to the way they look on paper than how they work on the web. Jobs demonstrated this with a copy of the New York Times which looked much more like the paper edition than its website, although it incorporated additional features such as video and links to other content. Jobs confirmed that Apple has already inked deals with a number of publishers and were in conversations with others.
Essentially Apple's iPad offers a similar experience to rival ereaders such as the Skiff as developed by Hearst Publishing and the Plastic Logic Que. The key difference between those ereaders and the iPad is that the iPad presents the content in colour.
Ultimately the iPad presents an real opportunity for magazine publishers to expand and develop their digital editions. Mainstream publishers are obviously hoping that users will subscribe to their titles via the Apple app store and that the magazines will then be automatically downloaded to their iPad. For customer publishers this also presents an opportunity in that it gives them another platform by which to distribute their digital editions. If the iBookstore works in a similar way to iTunes, and at this point there's no reason why it wouldn't, publishers will be able to approach Apple and gain distribution deals for their content and that included free content as well as paid for content.
However while Apple clearly has a huge distribution platform already via iTunes and seems to have cracked the way in which publishers can display content in an innovative and exciting way, customer publishers shouldn't necessarily see the iPad as the answer to all of their digital dilemmas.
Firstly the device has received a mixed reception. Some critics, like influential marketing strategist Jeff Jarvis, believe that Apple is chasing after a market that doesn't really exist and that people are happy with notebooks and smartphones and have no need for a hybrid device. Others have argued that the device is underwhelming in that if offers little that existing tablet PCs don't already offer. Most importantly the US market responded negatively to the device during Job's speech with Apple shares falling. They only rallied at the end when it was revealed that the price of the iPad was less than expected.
Industry observers are predicting that the iPad will sell between 2-5 million units in its first two years. How many would be sold in the UK remains to be seen, but even so with a market share of 500,000 that might seem too small for some publishers to create content for the format when they can target over 20 million Britons through their existing websites.
What is almost certain to happen over the next few months is a surge in the number of ereaders and tablets hitting the market. As for whether the tablet becomes successful PC format only time will tell
