Newsstand in iOS 5 Fueling Growth of New Magazine Subscriptions

AllThingsD takes a look at how the launch of Apple's Newsstand feature as part of iOS 5 has affected subscription sales for Popular Science magazine, revealing that the prominent placement of the Newsstand app and easy access to updated content has driven a substantial increase in new subscriptions.

The chart comes to us courtesy of Mag+, Bonnier’s tablet-publishing software business. And as Mag+ CEO Staffan Ekholm points out, the really promising indicator for Pop Sci isn’t the one-week sales leap of 13 percent — it’s that the the magazine’s growth picked up after that week, with more velocity.

Based on the graph, Popular Science appears to have been adding new subscribers at a fairly constant rate of about 700 per week during the several months leading up to the debut of iOS 5. But more than a month after the significant bump immediately following iOS 5's release, the magazine is still seeing subscription growth at nearly double the rate seen before the arrival of Newsstand.

popular science newsstand subs
Apple developed Newsstand as a way to allow users to keep track of what could be a large number of magazine and newspaper subscriptions, housing them all in a dedicated folder where they can be updated in the background and display the latest covers to help users identify new content.

Apple is not alone, however, in trying to provide centralized access to subscription newspaper and magazine content. Just this week, Amazon updated its Kindle iOS app to add support for its newsstand of over 400 newspapers and magazines on the iPad.

Popular Stories

iOS 26

15 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 26.2

Friday December 5, 2025 9:40 am PST by
Apple is about to release iOS 26.2, the second major point update for iPhones since iOS 26 was rolled out in September, and there are at least 15 notable changes and improvements worth checking out. We've rounded them up below. Apple is expected to roll out iOS 26.2 to compatible devices sometime between December 8 and December 16. When the update drops, you can check Apple's servers for the ...
Intel Inside iPhone Feature

Apple's Return to Intel Rumored to Extend to iPhone

Friday December 5, 2025 10:08 am PST by
Intel is expected to begin supplying some Mac and iPad chips in a few years, and the latest rumor claims the partnership might extend to the iPhone. In a research note with investment firm GF Securities this week, obtained by MacRumors, analyst Jeff Pu said he and his colleagues "now expect" Intel to reach a supply deal with Apple for at least some non-pro iPhone chips starting in 2028....
ive and altman

Jony Ive's OpenAI Device Barred From Using 'io' Name

Friday December 5, 2025 6:22 am PST by
A U.S. appeals court has upheld a temporary restraining order that prevents OpenAI and Jony Ive's new hardware venture from using the name "io" for products similar to those planned by AI audio startup iyO, Bloomberg Law reports. iyO sued OpenAI earlier this year after the latter announced its partnership with Ive's new firm, arguing that OpenAI's planned "io" branding was too close to its...
iPhone 17 Pro Cosmic Orange

10 Reasons to Wait for Next Year's iPhone 18 Pro

Monday December 1, 2025 2:40 am PST by
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models at the same time, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 18 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect for the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max. One thing worth...
Photos App Icon Liquid Glass

John Gruber Shares Scathing Commentary About Apple's Departing Software Design Chief

Thursday December 4, 2025 9:30 am PST by
In a statement shared with Bloomberg on Wednesday, Apple confirmed that its software design chief Alan Dye will be leaving. Apple said Dye will be succeeded by Stephen Lemay, who has been a software designer at the company since 1999. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that Dye will lead a new creative studio within the company's AR/VR division Reality Labs. On his blog Daring Fireball,...
maxresdefault

iPhone Fold: Launch, Pricing, and What to Expect From Apple's Foldable

Monday December 1, 2025 3:00 am PST by
Apple is expected to launch a new foldable iPhone next year, based on multiple rumors and credible sources. The long-awaited device has been rumored for years now, but signs increasingly suggest that 2026 could indeed be the year that Apple releases its first foldable device. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Below, we've collated an updated set of key details that ...
Apple John Ternus 2019

Will John Ternus Really Be Apple's Next CEO?

Friday December 5, 2025 9:01 am PST by
There is uncertainty about Apple's head of hardware engineering John Ternus succeeding Tim Cook as CEO, The Information reports. Some former Apple executives apparently hope that a new "dark-horse" candidate will emerge. Ternus is considered to be the most likely candidate to succeed Cook as CEO. The report notes that he is more likely to become CEO than software head chief Craig Federighi, ...
ios 18 to ios 26 upgrade

Apple Pushes iPhone Users Still on iOS 18 to Upgrade to iOS 26

Tuesday December 2, 2025 11:09 am PST by
Apple is encouraging iPhone users who are still running iOS 18 to upgrade to iOS 26 by making the iOS 26 software upgrade option more prominent. Since iOS 26 launched in September, it has been displayed as an optional upgrade at the bottom of the Software Update interface in the Settings app. iOS 18 has been the default operating system option, and users running iOS 18 have seen iOS 18...
iOS 26

Apple Seeds iOS 26.2 and iPadOS 26.2 Release Candidates to Developers and Public Beta Testers

Wednesday December 3, 2025 10:33 am PST by
Apple today seeded the release candidate versions of upcoming iOS 26.2 and iPadOS 26.2 updates to developers and public beta testers, with the software coming two weeks after Apple seeded the third betas. The release candidates represent the final versions of iOS 26.2 and iPadOS 26.2 that will be provided to the public if no further bugs are found during this final week of testing....
Johny Srouji

Apple Chip Chief Johny Srouji Could Be Next to Go as Exodus Continues

Sunday December 7, 2025 10:41 am PST by
Apple's senior vice president of hardware technologies Johny Srouji could be the next leading executive to leave the company amid an alarming exodus of leading employees, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reports. Srouji apparently recently told CEO Tim Cook that he is "seriously considering leaving" in the near future. He intends to join another company if he departs. Srouji leads Apple's chip design ...

Top Rated Comments

newagemac Avatar
182 months ago
Of course there's also Zinio (http://www.zinio.com) which has been around much longer than Newsstand. It's also cross platform so you can read your issues on your iPad, iPhone and Mac, PC and Android phone. Plus they have a much wider selection. Still no Macworld or Rolling Stone on Newsstand.
The problem with Zinio is the magazines in it are nothing more than PDF versions of their print magazines. The stuff on Newsstand can be entirely new concepts that are fully interactive to take advantage of the multitouch interface.

And Adobe's new Digital Publishing Suite works with it. We should be seeing some really good stuff coming out over the next few years with designers and publishers targeting the touch interface first rather than just porting print or web stuff to a digital touch based medium. Which is the same thing that made touch based apps and games successful.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
AaronEdwards Avatar
182 months ago
I'm not sure if Newstand is fueling a long time growth.

The first week this app was released there were 4140 new subscribers, then it dropped to 2076 the next week. The first week of Newstand there were 3676 new subscribers, the week after that it dropped to 2125.

The average new subscriptions for the first six weeks is 1691. The average new subscriptions the first six weeks after the launch of Newstand, 1832. That's an increase of just 141 extra subscriptions per week, or 8%.

I'd wait a couple more months before declaring Newstand being a success for publishers.

Another way to make the point.

Does anyone remember The Daily? Anyone still reading it?
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
mkrishnan Avatar
182 months ago
I'd like to see more apps work like the Newstand though. Click it and a drawer opens below for quick access.

I'd like to see more apps work in Newsstand. Months later, NYT is the only news app that I have that appears in the Newsstand. USA Today, WSJ, CNN, MLive, Fox, Michigan Public Radio, Valet, etc, all do not.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ipedro Avatar
182 months ago
It looks like Apple will single handedly save print media like they did the music industry.

I'd like to see more apps work like the Newstand though. Click it and a drawer opens below for quick access.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
dokujaryu Avatar
182 months ago


:-P
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
vrDrew Avatar
182 months ago
I thought Apple was out to destroy the print industry?

How does offering electronic (valueless) versions or currently printed media help the print industry?

I'm a digital NY Times subscriber. I wouldn't subscribe to the paper version for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is there is no daily delivery in the city I live in. I'm also able to enjoy my subscription anywhere in the world, rather than letting copies pile up on my doorstep or in my mailbox.

A couple of million people like me add up to half a billion dollars a year in revenue for the NY Times they simply would never be able to capture without the iOS subscription model. That half billion or so is the difference between the Times being a viable top quality newspaper, or having to slash its editorial and news gathering budgets.

Newsstand may not be perfect, and undoubtedly publishers have some details to work out, but long term I see it being a major plus for journalism.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)