Survey at Frankfurt book fair reveals 87% of publishers are not fully prepared to handle digital content

News & Events 2007-10-19

A survey to find out if publishers are prepared for digital change, carried out at the Frankfurt Book Fair by IBS, has found that 23% of publishers answered with a resounding NO.

A further 64% have only made limited preparation and just 13% say they are fully prepared. The survey also revealed that 31% of publishers have no strategy for providing content in different formats.

Mike Irving, VP of Publishing for IBS commented, "These survey results demonstrate the publishing industry’s continuing reservations about distributing digital content and the general confusion that exists in this area. While the technology is increasing in importance, there has so far been no clear direction for many publishers to actually generate income and profitability. Some publishers are clearly leading the pack in this area, but we would expect to see real opportunities for adding significant incremental revenue before many more publishers make significant investment in digital technology.”

According to the survey, for 54% of publishers, digital content represents virtually none of their revenues, with 12% earning 50% or more through digital formats. Nearly half of the 156 companies surveyed considered print-on-demand and digital content to be very important, while a greater percentage felt that consolidation in the market and eCommerce were more important. Just 15% of publishers consider digital content and eBooks to be ‘Very Important’ to their business. The survey also revealed that more than 70% of respondents claimed that the on-line publishing capabilities of Amazon and Google were having an effect on the industry, with 32% saying it was having a major effect.

Mike Irving concludes, “Most publishers recognize that there are benefits in providing content digitally. However, the lack of current and long-term revenue-making opportunities being gained through digital content is clearly dictating the importance publishers are putting on the technology. This ‘wait and see’ approach that many publishers are taking might make sense now, but the growth of digital content could potentially be very fast and publishers need to make sure that their back-office business management systems have the capability to respond as the market really takes off.”

Contact IBS for more information. »