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Mark Kennedy's avatar

I was interested in the data revealing the extent to which free samples are reducing revenue from paid content. Will more and more publishers go out of business as a result of this worrisome trend? Or will they pivot to something else?

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Richardson Handjaja's avatar

I think the publishers themselves won't go out of business because they own the IP rights to their catalog titles and can sell secondary licenses for screen adaptations, merchandise, etc.

Amaya is more concerned with profitability of the digital stores that distribute these titles. There are now more than 150 digital manga distribution companies, and he calls the digital manga store business a "red ocean" due to excessive competition. The reason digital manga stores have been able to continue up to this point is that the average cost to distribute a single book is much lower than at a physical bookstore.

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Mark Kennedy's avatar

How interesting! The balance of power along the supply and distribution chain certainly seems to exert a lot of pressure. Perhaps there will be consolidation among digital manga distribution companies.

In any case, thanks for the clarification. As always, it's great to see a fellow practitioner of "smart brevity" in action!

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