Due to the growing trend of e-book reading, many magazine publishers have found it a fashion to make a beautifully designed mobile app for their magazine.
It is a common phenomenon that we have too many apps on our smartphone that we’ve opened only few times. People found a magazine attractive are likely to download an app for it, however, it usually don’t take long before the app fades out of their memory.
One interesting point brought up in the article is that publishing magazines through mobile apps does not really count as “publishing”. The content of magazines remains invisible online. Without a direct access to the articles, it is less likely that the readers will discuss about them, thus, it’s safe to say that creating apps for magazines contribute little to increasing the visibility of the magazine. Apps are inefficient channels for distributing magazines to customers.
The problem of these publishers is that they jumped into what is considered “fashion” without a thorough consideration about whether it fits the business. This is a trap that we should always watch out when deciding business plan.
Link: http://blogs.vancouversun.com/2013/10/07/publishing-dont-make-a-smartphone-or-tablet-app/