Apple’s iOS Newsstand Sees 407 Percent Revenue Growth Since Last Year’s Launch

Revenue from newsstand apps is owed almost entirely to in-app purchases.

By Alexandra Skamangas
Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Since its start in October 2011, the iOS newsstand has seen a 407 percent revenue growth according to a report released last week by app analytics firm App Annie. The report also shows that about a quarter of Americans frequently access news from smartphones or tablets—those using these devices for news consume more content, and return to news sites or apps more regularly than they do on computers.

Revenue from newsstand apps is produced almost entirely by in-app purchases. “Globally, about 88 percent of newsstand apps have in-app purchases, and 99.5 percent of all newsstand revenue is produced from that 88 percent, meaning that the 12 percent of apps without in-app purchases are producing less than 0.5 percent of the newsstand’s global revenue,” says the report.  

In terms of revenue and downloads, the ‘News’ and ‘Lifestyle’ genres control the charts. The New York Times takes the number one spots for both worldwide revenue and downloads, while The Daily, The New Yorker, the New York Post and The Economist for iPad take the following four spots as revenue leaders:

Of the top ten countries by revenue per download, Norway, Australia, Switzerland and the United Kingdom take the top four spots respectively, followed by South Africa and New Zealand, with the U.S. following behind in the eighth position, says the report. Among the top 10 countries, the average revenue per app is $0.97, more than twice the worldwide average ($0.45). According to the report, seven of the top 10 countries are English speaking, nine are in the top 25 by GDP per capita, and five are European nations.

The data shows that China overpowered the U.S. as the leading country by number of newsstand downloads from Q1 to Q2 this year. Looking at revenue, though, America takes the top spot as China trails in the 19th position.

According to the report, the iPad overshadows the iPhone for newsstand revenue. Though the comprehensive audience of iPad users is smaller than that of the iPhone, newsstand revenues for the iPad are presently three times larger than that of the iPhone. Still, iPhone revenue has increased more than 3,200 percent since the newsstand launch.

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