In 2011, the world witnessed the iPad become one of the year’s most popular gift items. Now that more affordable tablets - such as the new Kindle Fire – are coming to the market, it’s no surprise that a recent study by the Pew Research Center found that tablet and E-reader ownership has nearly doubled in the U.S. over the holiday gift-giving period. As the surge in tablet use continues to grow, some publishers are looking to leverage the popularity of tablets through strategic partnerships.
Two examples point to the trend of publisher/tablet maker partnerships. MediaPost reported that Barnes & Noble joined forces with The New York Times to offer consumers who buy a digital subscription of the newspaper on a Nook $100 off of a Nook Simple Touch or Nook Color tablet. AdAge reported a slightly different model, with the announcement that News Corp’s The Daily app will now be available on certain Verizon-marketed devices. Consumers that already own a Galaxy Tab will have access to The Daily app through a software update. Both approaches aim to incentivize tablet purchase and increase app usage.
Since tablet maker/publisher partnerships are relatively new, we will have to wait and see how this seemingly symbiotic relationship performs.
This post originally ran on the OPA Blog.
Marshall McLuhan once wrote "the printed word is dead". Now you can read his words on iPad or Kindle.