iPad news
Rumours are escalating that Apple is set to announce a new subscription plan for US newspapers for its iPad in a bid to root out a new source of profit as media and adverting firms struggle with declining sales of physical newspapers.
According to Mercury News, Apple did not confirm or deny the rumours (which is not surprising as it is its policy) but experts reckon the computer giant could be after a 30 percent cut of all subscriptions sold through its App Store and perhaps up to 40 percent of advertising revenue generated though newspapers' iOS apps.
Apple will reportedly include an opt-in function for newspaper subscribers to let it share readers' information with publishers for advertising purposes.
While newspaper giants such as The Wall Street Journal and The FT already have their own subscription-based apps, local (but reasonably large) city newspapers across the US are expected to release their own apps and are said to have been in talks with Apple.
Industry figures will no doubt hope the rise in popularity of tablets will rub off on the amount of people who want to read digital news too and more to the point, pay for the content to recreate the olf fashioned print business model online.
However, many publishers would reportedly rather pay Apple a fixed fee than risk a cut of their subscription and advertising money and are not too happy with Apple's terms. A source told the newspaper that publishers had hoped to offer readers app editions of their titles as part of a subscription bundle including print versions but will instead have to use an Apple middleman to deal with subscribers.
