Swedish audiobook subscription service Storytel published its 2020 annual report, with total sales of SEK 2.39 billion ($268 million), up from SEK 1.84 billion, exceeding its goal for the year despite a strong Swedish krona. The company’s pretax loss was SEK (210) million, an improvement from SEK (380) million last year, though the company remains focused on growth over profit. “Storytel’s strong expansion focus, which prioritizes growth over profitability, will remain in place as long as customer acquisition creates value and contributes to making more markets profitable at a local level.” (One more market reached profitability in 2020, in the […]
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Swedish Subscription Service Positions Itself for Continuing International Growth
On December 3, Swedish digital audio and ebook subscription service Storytel moved trading of their B shares to the higher-profile Nasdaq First North (a part of the exchange reserved for small and high-growth European companies). As part of move, they provided an extensive company description that shares details about their growth and financials. Building on their foundation in Sweden, the company’s play is global: More than half of the close to 800,000 subscriber base resides outside of Sweden, reflecting an aggressive growth strategy in international markets, now including Norway, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, Poland, Russia, India, Spain, Iceland, UAE, Italy, […]
Google Play Audiobooks Launch
After various hints online, and in a move publishers have been waiting for, Google Play officially launched digital audiobooks, offered for sale in 45 countries and nine languages:English, German, Spanish, French, Italian, Russian, Korean, Japanese and Polish. A launch promotion prices some top titles at less than $10, and they have an offer for 50 percent off the first audiobook purchase. Google bills listening “without a subscription” and “with no commitments” prominently as a virtue, an unstated comparison to Audible’s efforts to turn everyone into a subscriber, whether or not that is what they intended. Store
Kobo Adds Audio Subscription, Sales
Kobo has launched a broad program of digital audiobooks, available for individual purchase but also available through a $9.99/month subscription, promising “the best value on a subscription plan in the category.” The service is also available in Canada ($12.99/month), the UK (£6.99/month), Australia ($12.99/month), and New Zealand ($13.99/month). CEO Michael Tamblyn says in the press release, “Last year, we built the Kobo Aura One eReader with the help of our best customers, and our new offering is no different. What we unequivocally heard was that they wanted the best deal on audiobooks, and we are pleased to offer the lowest […]
Competition Comes to Digital Audiobooks As European Investigations Lead to End of Audible/Apple Exclusivity
Both Apple and Audible have agreed to end their worldwide digital audiobook exclusivity agreements following an investigation by the European Commission and the German federal cartel office. The investigations began in November 2015 and were sparked by a complaint from the German Publishers and Booksellers Association, which asserted in their filing that approximately 90 percent of the digital audiobook market was controlled by Audible and iBooks. With the agreement in effect as of January 5, Apple can offer digital audiobooks from other suppliers for sale in their iTunes stores and Audible is free to sell their product through other digital music platforms. […]
HarperCollins Officially Expands in France, and More
It’s book fair time — as the Bologna Book Fair officially opens — so Harper Collins has announced another expanded international unit. This time it is the formation of Harper Collins France. Previously, Harlequin SA was a joint venture in France with Hachette Livre, but Harper Collins bought out their partner. They will continue to work with Hachette in an “ongoing partnership for distribution and sales.” (They bought out Mondadori’s share of Harlequin Mondadori in September 2015, and they ended their joint venture in Brazil with Record Publishing Group — pairing instead with Ediuoro Group, last August. The new business will continue to publish […]