Since the launch of Newsstand in October 2011, Apple has seen revenues generated through the service grow by more than 407 percent according to app store analytics provider App Annie. The app analytics company reviewed Newsstand purchase information gathered from from its App Annie Intelligence service. It found that 88 percent percent of all Newsstand apps featured in-app purchases, and that IAPs were were responsible for 99.5 percent of all revenue.
App Annie also found the majority of Newsstand revenue was generated on the iPad. The iPad currently generates three times the amount of Newsstand revenues of the iPhone, even though Apple’s tablets have a much smaller total install base. That said however, iPhone revenues are growing at a faster pace than iPad revenues, increasing by over 3200 percent since Newsstand launched 10 months ago.
The top five countries in terms of raw downloads of Newsstand apps were China, the U.S., the U.K., South Korea and France. China’s reputation for being a hard country to monetize also applied to Newsstand content — although it boasts the most enthusiastic readers, its citizens are not the most enthusiastic buyers. The top five countries in terms of Newsstand revenue generated were the U.S., the U.K., Australia, Canada and Germany, with China making its appearance in the No. 19 spot.
Unsurprisingly, Western countries tended to generate the highest average revenue per download for Newsstand apps, with Norway leading the pack. Every Norwegian download of a Newsstand app generated almost $1.50 in revenue, much higher than the worldwide average of $0.45 per download. Overall the top 10 countries in terms of revenue per download generated $0.97 cents for every Newsstand app downloaded. Interestingly the U.S. was the No. 8 most lucrative country, behind markets like New Zealand and Switzerland.
Finally, App Annie also found there was a disconnect between the most popular Newsstand Apps and the one that generated the most revenue. The five most downloaded publications were The New York Times, Cosmopolitan UK, The New York Times for iPad, women’s magazine LOHAS and Health & Fitness Magazine. The five most profitable Newsstand apps were The New York Times for iPad, The Daily, The New Yorker, the New York Post and The Economist for iPad, all of which make regular appearance on the top grossing iPad app charts. According to our traffic tracking service AppData, The New York Times for iPad is currently the N0. 5 overall top grossing iPad app.
