PixelMags sees 1150% growth following iOS 5 release
PixelMags is a company that specializes in helping magazines go digital. They’re the unsung heroes behind a lot of magazines in the App Store, and so naturally iOS 5 was a big deal for them because of Newsstand. Newsstand is, as many of you know, Apple’s new way to handle magazines and newspapers in iOS 5. You still download them as individual apps, but instead of getting an app icon for them, you get the front cover of the newest edition neatly stacked on a virtual newsstand with all your other Newsstand compatible publications.
This change has made a world of difference to PixelMags, who in a press release today is reporting a 1150% growth (downloads and revenue) in one week after the iOS 5 release. The press release includes a quote from the PixelMags COO and founder, Ryan Marquis, which really shows the kind of impact Newsstand has had: “We quickly started to realize just how big of an impact Apple Newsstand was having on our business when on the morning after launch, I received a phone call from our server company wondering if were under attack? I told them that we were for sure – from all the new iOS5 users who wanted download magazines from us.”
As someone who has been reading magazines digitally since before it was really deemed sane to do so, I find this development both frustrating and promising. Frustrating, because the content was always there, it’s just the presentation that has changed (though more magazines that weren’t available digitally will certainly come on the market now that Newsstand is here). Promising, because it can help save a dying industry and get more content on mobile platforms. I’m still waiting rather impatiently for my favorite comics to stop messing around with dead trees and go digital.
This story is a great example of what a difference it can make to have a feature be official. The numbers might not stay that high as people get over their “have to try this out”-phase, but at the same time we might not have seen the biggest wave of magazine fans yet – especially since rumors (read: untrustworthy statistics) would have it that only 1/3 of iOS 5 compatible devices actually run iOS 5 right now. Original press release after the jump.
PIXELMAGS SEES 1,150% IN GROWTH FROM ONE WEEK OF APPLE NEWSSTAND RELEASE
LOS ANGELES, Oct. 19, 2011 — PixelMags, a world leader in content distribution software (CDS), has announced exponential amounts of revenue and download growth since the release of Apple Newsstand and iOS5 exactly one week ago.
PixelMags conducted an internal audit of both pre and post Apple Newsstand magazine sales to see the differences in both downloads and revenue increases their clients were experiencing after the launch of Apple Newsstand. The audit showed that revenue has increased by hundreds of thousands of dollars, and downloads and circulations have been on a rapid and steady incline, since the release of Apple Newsstand on October 12th.
“We quickly started to realize just how big of an impact Apple Newsstand was having on our business when on the morning after launch, I received a phone call from our server company wondering if were under attack? I told them that we were for sure – from all the new iOS5 users who wanted download magazines from us,” said Ryan Marquis, coo and founder of PixelMags.
“We couldn’t be more pleased for the hundreds of publishers who put their trust and faith in us and who are now seeing the incredible rewards of all our efforts,” continued Marquis.
With Apple Newsstand and iOS5 only being one week old, it has already changed the face of the digital publishing world, especially for companies like PixelMags. Currently, PixelMags has five out the 10 top grossing Newsstand magazines in the United States, with HowItWorks being number one. In the United Kingdom, PixelMags has six out of the 10 top grossing Newsstand magazines, with Men’s Fitness being number one.
About PixelMags Inc.
PixelMags Inc. is one of the worlds fastest growing digital content distribution companies that is transforming the future of digital publishing by changing how publishers distribute interactive branded content. PixelMags reaches millions of digital readers daily, in over 33 different languages, and represents such publishers as Hearst UK, Crain Communications Inc., Imagine Publishing, Dennis Publishing and more. PixelMags is a privately held company, with offices located in Los Angeles, London, New Zealand and Australia. Follow PixelMags on Facebook (facebook.com/pixelmags) and Twitter (@pixelmags).
