Next Issue Media, a consortium of five publishers, is rolling out a beta in which magazine publishers can offer subscriptions to app versions of their publications. Esquire, Popular Mechanics, Fitness, Parents, the New Yorker, Fortune and Time are the first to try out the offer, according to All Things D. The initial offers will be made to some Samsung Galaxy tablet users this week and by the end of the year some 40 titles are expected to be available.
Apple took a similar step earlier this month, perhaps inspired by the forthcoming competitor service. The two are not completely comparable: Next Issue's early iteration is only available to Galaxy owners who bought a model with wireless service from Verizon and Apple is able to offer more flexible packaging to publisher for the moment. A major difference, though, All Things D points out, is that with this service publishers get full access to subscriber information. Apple, by contrast, makes the publisher and reader jump through hoops to share the data.
Other Entrants
Next Media has taken pains to say that the product rollout is only a test - enhancements are coming. As is, no doubt, additional competition. Google has been rumored to be working on its own digital newsstand, with its own concessions to publishers, via the Wall Street Journal. Then consider the fact that research from Nielsen presented at the paidContent Mobile conference this week, shows that in the U.S. today, more than 95% of consumers have yet to buy one. (via PaidContent).
How Android Can Gain an Edge
In short, even though the iPad has a clear lead, these are still very early days and any number of Android-based or proprietary offerings for tablet subscriptions could easily top what Apple has rolled out. Other reasons to take a wait-and-see approach:
1. The Apple-Android race is becoming too close to call. Many analysts have said 2011 will be the year for Android. The most recent figures suggesting this are from the Nielsen Company, which found that the popularity of the Android OS among those who purchased a smartphone in the last six months (41%) makes it the leading OS among recent acquirers, while Apple iOS only retains a slim lead in overall market share.
2. Magazine publishers are not too fond of Apple. It took Apple until August to let magazine publishers offer their publications free on the iPad to magazine subscribers, after months of an inexplicable hold up. Before that iPad versions of People, Time, Sports Illustrated and Fortune cost the same as the newsstand price. It also has been loathe to share customer data, keeping a firm grip on the relationship and essentially cutting magazines out.
3. Google knows search. Right now one of the limitations of apps - including publishers' apps - has been the poor search functionality among the hundreds of thousands of offerings. It is one reason why Mashable speculated that iPad magazine app subscriptions have been dropping. If anyone can address this, it will be Google.
