New Surveys Say Publishers Expect Mobile To Pay Off Big Within Two Years

ABC: Just 19 percent of publishers are satisfied with Apple’s model.

By Matt Kinsman
11/04/2010

Two new publishing surveys predict rapid revenue growth for mobile apps in the next few years, although one shows most publishers rejecting the switch to an all-digital format.

In the second annual "Going Mobile" survey from the Audit Bureau of Circulations and ABC Interactive, 65 percent of respondents say they believe digital delivery is important to their strategic future, up from 55 percent last year. Thirty-seven percent say they expect mobile to significantly impact their revenue in just two years. However, 78 percent of respondents disagreed that their publications would be delivered in digital-only format within the next five years.

While Apple is listed as the number one e-reader manufacturer in the ABC survey, just 19 percent of respondents say they are satisfied with Apple's app business model, while 11 percent say they are satisfied with the analytics and subscriber information they receive from Apple.

Meanwhile, a report from mobile ad network Millennial Media, e-media conference producer DIGIDAY and financial services company Stifel Nicolaus, found that 31 percent of publishers surveyed expect their applications to increase 100 percent or more in 2011, with another 17 percent expecting an increase of 50 percent or more. (The Millennial Media report also says that just 6.7 percent of developers use an internal sales force to monetize their applications, while 83 percent use a third party, such as an ad network.)