WSJ hits 200,000 tablet subscriptions

The Wall Street Journal is proving that there is a market for digital-only subscriptions, having sold 200,000 tablet-based subscriptions.

The vast majority of those subscriptions – 150,000 – were sold in the last 12 months, according to MediaPost.

This growth has been largely attributed to the introduction and success of Apple’s iPad, which was released in April 2010.

Digital-only access to the WSJ costs $3.99 a week. It is thought that WSJ mobile subscriptions add around $41.5 million in extra circulation revenues a year (which is actually more profitable than print circulation revenue if you take in to account printing and delivery costs).

Other newspaper and magazines are yet to mirror the WSJ‘s digital success (the WSJ has always charged for digital content), but publishers are positive that devices such as the iPad will provide the circulation (and financial) boost they need.

Hearst Corp’s president David Carey predicts that digital editions of magazines will contribute up to 30% of total circulation in the future, while Conde Nast’s managing director for UK Nicholas Coleridge forecasts that up to 40% of sales will come from products like the iPad in 15 years time.

Read the full article here.