I joined Adrian Weckler and Conor Pope on Nadine O’Regan’s The Kiosk on Phantom on saturday 5th February 2011 to discuss the plight of print media. Prompted by the closure of two Waterstone’s store in Dublin and the receivership of The Sunday Tribune, the discussion was a little glum but not without its bright patches. It is below:
[Audio https://eoinpurcell.files.wordpress.com/2011/02/phantom-105-2-the-home-of-rock-in-dublin-listen-back-the-kiosk2.mp3%5D
Day: February 9, 2011
When Readers Decide
It is becoming hard to avoid the conclusion that a large portion of the reading public has decided they like ereaders and digital books, or at least that they are willing to give them a try.
With Amazon, B&N and now Indigo saying that ereaders are their hottest product and with Asda selling a £52 basic ereader in the UK where Waterstone’s were already offering options below £100.
It is hard to see ereaders staying above £50 this Christmas, perhaps I’m wrong but if Asda are in the game for real and they start to shift units, we’ll see some kind of price response from others. That will drive further sales and more results like these:
Revenue for the quarter was $387.6 million, up $47.4 million from last year driven by strong growth in the company’s digital business. On a comparable store basis, Indigo and Chapters superstores posted a 2.6% increase in revenue, while Coles and Indigo Spirit small format stores were down 0.8%. Sales from Indigos online channel, chapters.indigo.ca, were up 6.5% compared to last year.
Commenting on the results, CEO Heather Reisman said, “We are pleased with our top line revenue growth, particularly in our rapidly growing digital business. Kobo eReaders were the hottest items in our stores over the holidays. Consumers have also responded very favourably to our broader gift and toy selection and reinforced our decision to continue expanding these categories.”
via INDIGO BOOKS & MUSIC INC. | Indigo Q3 Revenue Up 14%.
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