ICv2.com: Digital Comics sales declined in 2015

[JohnMayo]

Apparently digital comics sales were down 10% in 2015:

http://icv2.com/articles/markets/view/3 ... lined-2015

[erickowabunga]

Apparently digital comics sales were down 10% in 2015:

http://icv2.com/articles/markets/view/3 ... lined-2015

This was something that James and I talked to DC reps about after the Retailer Roadshow. We were concerned that digital would continue to eat away at us, and DC let us know that on their end they have seen a plateau or a bit of a dip. There was no real answer as to why, but some of the ideas thrown around were:

1) Collectibility of medium - You can't sell a digital back issue.
2) Those who want it, largely have it already
3) Hipster trends - Books (physical medium) are coming back with younger crowds as it is retro cool.

Who knows why, in the end, but from a physical medium retailer, we are happy that the Amazon/Comixology conglomerate has, for the meantime, been slowed.

[drew]

It does not count marvel unlimited or any other all you can read digital model, I would think that would make up a large section of digital sales since marvel seems to dominate print sales

[JohnMayo]

It does not count marvel unlimited or any other all you can read digital model, I would think that would make up a large section of digital sales since marvel seems to dominate print sales

Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited might have tons or subscribers. By even at $10/month, there is only so much new content that revue is likely to generate.

[fudd71]

It does not count marvel unlimited or any other all you can read digital model, I would think that would make up a large section of digital sales since marvel seems to dominate print sales

Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited might have tons or subscribers. By even at $10/month, there is only so much new content that revue is likely to generate.

This is very much a size and perspective thing, Netflix produces a lot of original video content off $9/month subscriptions. Marvels monthly income from print sales one would assume is around $4-5 million, that could be completely replaced with 500K subscribers. I'm not saying I think it is there, but there is a point where the subscriber base could produce as much if not more income than print sales .

[drew]

It does not count marvel unlimited or any other all you can read digital model, I would think that would make up a large section of digital sales since marvel seems to dominate print sales

Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited might have tons or subscribers. By even at $10/month, there is only so much new content that revue is likely to generate.

This is very much a size and perspective thing, Netflix produces a lot of original video content off $9/month subscriptions. Marvels monthly income from print sales one would assume is around $4-5 million, that could be completely replaced with 500K subscribers. I'm not saying I think it is there, but there is a point where the subscriber base could produce as much if not more income than print sales .

Good point - and I wonder if we will ever know their subscriber base size?

And why did it take this guy 6 months to compile data on 2015 - john could have crunched those numbers over lunch

[bralinator]

I would think anyone that decided to sign up for Marvel Unlimited stopped buying digital altogether. And with the new Amazon / Comixology all-you-can-eat service subscription (albeit less enticing than MU) there's a good chance everyone who wants digital is already in that market and the subscription services will only lessen the amount of consumers willing to pay full cover price for digital comics. (I'm looking at you DC)

[MrAloha]

Dear John,

Thank you for the article.

To me, the article showed a couple of things.

Digital Sales Market may have plateaued.
An increase in female customers by 10%. (And that is great news!)

My two cents:

It would have been nice to see this article go a little more in depth; such as, is it day-and-date sales (the same day that printed comics come out.) that are down or is it digital comic back issues; and a breakdown per company for comparison.

Even though the article states a couple of possible reasons for the sales decline; such as electronic device saturation in the market place and discount digital bundles, I wonder if there was something more to the decline. (Maybe I’m reading too deep in this article.) Such as, did readers jump off a book/books because story momentum was broken due to an company wide event; such as, Secret Wars; one too many reboots; or did readers jump off books because they may have found the stories boring or below their standard.

It is a shame that DC comics (I know Bralinator, Drew and others have mentioned in past forums.) doesn’t have a DC Digital Unlimited Subscription (Like the Marvel Unlimited). It would have been the perfect time to do this because, if I remember correctly, Geoff Johns, Jim Lee, and Dan Didio kept mentioning before Rebirth that DC has this rich history and it would have been a perfect time for them to unveil a digital unlimited before/during Rebirth to attract new and old fans to explore that rich DC history that we all love.

That's my two cents.

Aloha!

[JohnMayo]

It is a shame that DC comics (I know Bralinator, Drew and others have mentioned in past forums.) doesn’t have a DC Digital Unlimited Subscription (Like the Marvel Unlimited). It would have been the perfect time to do this because, if I remember correctly, Geoff Johns, Jim Lee, and Dan Didio kept mentioning before Rebirth that DC has this rich history and it would have been a perfect time for them to unveil a digital unlimited before/during Rebirth to attract new and old fans to explore that rich DC history that we all love.

Great point. Rebirth would have been an amazing opportunity to launch a digital subscription service. Heck Convergence would have been a great opportunity as well. It is a shame DC isn't leveraging that long and rich history of comics with a digital platform.

[SpideySavestheDay]

Digital comics need tablets, but the market is saturated. People who want tablets have them. Until this changes, digital sales will be flat.

Even Apple is experiencing lagging sales.


https://www.yahoo.com/tech/great-tablet ... 27100.html

[bralinator]

I believe DC's challenge to a subscription service is the royalty agreements they've made. It's the only thing I can figure that would be holding them back from a DC Unlimited type of service.