Recently, I published an article about the trend toward digital reading -- be it e-readers, e-books, or iPads -- and this got me thinking: With bookselling companies like Borders declaring bankruptcy, and others like Barnes & Noble
The little penguin that could
A look at the numbers shows that Pearson
Pearson |
2010 |
2009 |
2008 |
|
---|---|---|---|---|
Digital Revenue (% of total sales) | 29% | 25% | 22% |
Source: Company financial statements.
Pearson's Penguin |
2010 |
2009 |
2008 |
---|---|---|---|
Sales (in millions) | $1,719 | $1,636 | $1,475 |
Sales Growth | 5.1% | 1.1% | 6.7% |
E-Book Sales | 6.2% | 2.3% | 0.5% |
With Pearson's digital revenue continuing to grow as a percentage of overall sales, it's clear that Pearson has embraced, and is thriving, in the digital age. In addition, you can see clearly that e-book sales have grown steadily over the last three years.
Smart or lucky?
It looks like John Wiley & Sons
John Wiley & Sons |
2010 |
2009 |
2008 |
---|---|---|---|
Sales (millions) | $1,699 | $1,611 | $1,673 |
Sales Growth | 5.5% | (3.7%) | 35.6% |
Net Margin | 8.4% | 8% | 8.8% |
Source: Yahoo! Finance.
How to survive a tenuous year
2009 was a difficult year for almost every media or publishing company, and that was especially so for Scholastic
By looking at the chart below, you'll see that even though Scholastic's not out of the woods, it's headed in the right direction:
Scholastic |
2010 |
2009 |
2008 |
---|---|---|---|
Sales (million) | $1,912 | $1,849 | $2,159 |
Sales Growth | 3.4% | (14.4%) | 12.4% |
Net Margin | 2.9% | (0.70%) | (0.80%) |
Source: Yahoo! Finance.
Bring on the digital, baby!
With the trend toward digital, publishers have had to rethink how they do business, and if not already, they are starting to make the digital transition. Yes, Scholastic has further to go than the others, but with its plans of moving into the digital age in the next year, hopefully it too will have a bright future.
Want to keep up with these publishers?