Wired iPad magazine sales set to surpass print sales

Posted by Carole Wurzelbacher on June 8, 2010 at 3:50 PM

After just nine days, Condé Nast's magazine Wired is reporting an astonishing feat: the sales of its iPad edition are set to surpass those of its print edition. The New York Observer reports that just a little over a week after its initial release, the magazine's iPad edition has already sold 79,000 copies. Considering that Wired's newsstand sales average around 80,000 a month, it seems safe to assume at this point that the sales of the iPad edition will soon surpass those of the print edition.

While these facts are rather incredible, Tom Wallace, Condé Nast editorial director, has yet another bragging point: Steve Jobs recently featured the cover of Wired's iPad magazine onstage during the unveiling of the fourth generation iPhone. Wired editor Chris Anderson tweeted that he can "now die happy" in light of the mention.

Not long ago, with the introduction of the magazine, Wallace called the iPad version of Wired the "beginning of a revolution." While at the moment that claim didn't have much substance backing it up, the numbers that his Wired application is producing say that perhaps Wallace was on to something.

While these numbers are all very exciting for the news industry, others have approached them with some well-timed skepticism. Niraj Chokshi of The Atlantic points out that "all of these numbers are very preliminary" and that ad values of the iPad could diminish "as the iPad's novelty wears off and, presumably, as users become more accustomed to seeing - and ignoring - the ads." Indeed, considering that these numbers could be more a reflection of the hype surrounding the iPad than the viability of an iPad magazine, it is really too soon to tell if Wired's brand of iPad news is the future or not.

Yet, the numbers that Wired is reporting are astonishing. Therefore, perhaps it is safe to assume that Condé Nast could astonish again? Wired's numbers suggest its brand of iPad news could be a truly viable way to report news in the future while making significant advertising revenue and avoiding the problems of information sharing online. While these numbers may simply be a reflection of the hype surrounding the iPad, they could be a sign that Wallace came through and delivered that promised "revolution."

Sources: The New York Observer (1), The New York Observer (2), The Atlantic