European Publishers Divided Whether The iPad Is Really Print’s Savior

Philip M. Stone June 2, 2010 Follow on Twitter

Mathias Döpfner, head of the giant German Axel Springer, sees the iPad “as delivering what we were all waiting for”, but Swiss publisher Michael Ringier says it’s not “gadgets” that are going to save newspapers, but rather good journalism, a view seemingly supported by many European publishers who had not launched iPad apps when European sales began May 28. When it comes to tablets Europeans are being far more cautious than their American brethren.

And since Axel Springer and Ringier have basically agreed to combine their Eastern European operations because of the disaster the recession has brought to their once thriving publications there, the differences that the leaders of these two major European publishing houses have when it comes to tablets is a great example of how European mindsets on the iPad are far apart.

The iPad went on sale in Europe last Friday but with very few exceptions there were no queuing in the early morning hours to get in the stores and long lines didn’t develop. On Tuesday at the Apple store in downtown Geneva one could just walk in and play with demonstration iPads without having to wait in line. The least expensive model, incidentally, was 649 Swiss Francs ($564) compared to $500 in the US and in the 30 minutes or so ftm was in the store no iPads walked out the door.

European iPad enthusiasm seems somewhat muted. Ringier says he himself has had an iPad for several months (probably bought on a US visit) and he considers it basically a “gadget”. He believes it will take several years before the iPad reaches the business environment and he is not looking for it to be print’s savior. “Journalism is the only thing that can save newspapers,” he told the French newspaper Le Figaro. Ringier, incidentally, is said to be looking at buying the French daily Le Monde so he certainly hasn’t given up on print; whether the French will take to a Swiss owning their most prestigious newspaper is another matter.

And then there’s Gruner +Jahr (Bertelsmann),  Europe’s largest magazine publisher, that  doesn’t like the way Apple regulates its app system. One major thorn is that the likes of Stern and others print topless photos regularly yet  Silicon Valley censors Germany to American standards. It’s silly but it brings out the bigger point in Europe that publishers don’t want anyone dictating to them about their content and that’s a major issue.  So Gruner + Jahr have decided to ditch Apple and are going with another tablet, WePad, where it can control content.

Bertelsmann, Europe’s largest media player, also happens to own Random House, the world’s largest book publisher, and it, too, is not going near the iPad.  In this case it boils down to money --  Bertelsmann doesn’t want to give Apple 30% of whatever it makes on selling electronic books on the iPad. That Apple cut restricts publisher profits and magazine publishers, for instance,  who are charging the same price for the iPad version as they do for their print newsstand copies, are getting loads of complaints from readers who believe that is a rip-off, but if publishers have to give 30% away to Apple then what’s the right price?

But the real European enthusiast is Döpfner who told an American interviewer recently, “I think the iPad is really delivering what we were all waiting for. It’s a device that enables you to visualize content in a very emotional way. It is an easy-to-use device. The price is a mass market price.”

Springer has already expanded its iKiosk iPad application to include its tabloid Bild, Bild am Sonntag, Hamburger Abendblatt and Berliner Morgenpost in addition to its digital versions of Welt, Welt Kompakt and Welt am Sonntag. German iPad users can use the iKiosk app for free for 30 days and then choose between several subscription models. Springer is charging, for instance, €11.99 a month for its multimedia version of the broadsheet Die Welt.  Bild, incidentally, has the largest newspaper circulation in Europe but it, too,  often has topless girls that goes against Apple’s morality clauses so Springer has had to give up some editorial control by toning down its iPad version.

One thing Döpfner doesn’t like about the iPad is the 30% of revenue that goes to Apple. “It’s too much. But the competition among the devices will help. There is a Microsoft device, there will be a Google device, there will be the Amazon Kindle. That will help.”

And the Computex Exhibition in Taiwan that opened Monday seems to indicate just that with several manufacturers showing new tablets. Although pricing was not announced the belief is that at least some of the low-end new models could go for around $100 and if that is the case then that will open the tablet market real wide. But most probably won’t see the light of day until late this year or in 2011.

There was talk that if the price was low enough with enough bells and whistles to make for an enjoyable read, then magazine publishers, for instance, might start copying the mobile phone/telecoms marketing ploy and offer a free tablet in return for a long-term subscription.

There was also a major announcement by Adobe on Tuesday that it has added a new component to its Creative Suite 5 software — used widely by magazine publishers for their glossy print versions  – so that it can now take what was done for the print version and create an iPad Apple-compliant digital version. That should open some iPad doors.

When the iPad hit Europe last week such British publications as the Guardian, the Daily Mail and the Economist didn’t have iPad apps available although the Financial Times did (free access until July 1) as did the Times. The latter is charging  £9.99 for a 28-day subscription which is a bit higher than the £2 a week it will charge for its Internet pay wall edition.

The Europeans for the most part don’t like Apple’s financial terms, they don’t like the nudity censorship, they’re not that impressed with the publishing apps they have seen in the US, and they still don’t have a clue what readers will be willing to pay. So the most prevalent European view seems to be wait and see how the likes of Springer actually do before getting their own feet wet.

See also in ftm Knowledge

We've Gone Mobile - and nothing's the same

Consumers have taken to smartphones in huge numbers. Competition among device makers, telecoms and content producers has created an insatiable demand. With so much volume markets are fragmenting... and nothing's the same. 132 pages PDF (February 2011)

Order here