Economist Launches a Daily Jolt of News with Economist Espresso

On November 6, The Economist announced the launch of The Economist Espresso, a daily jolt of concise news specifically for smartphone users. Available in

On November 6, The Economist announced the launch of The Economist Espresso, a daily jolt of concise news specifically for smartphone users. Available in three editions – the Americas, Europe and Asia -Espresso will offer mobile subscribers a weekday morning briefing of global news stories and market updates that can be consumed in five minutes or less by readers on the go.Currently with 1.5 million print subscribers and 167,000 digital-only subscribers, The Economist’s potential market for Espresso is huge. Chris Stibbs, chief executive of The Economist, boldly predicts that Espresso could reach a market of as many as 200 million mobile readers, a lofty goal considering its current subscription totals.”There is a huge market out there we couldn’t get to in print that we can potentially reach now,” Stibbs said in an article in The Guardian.Available for the iPhone and Android phones, new subscribers can get the app for $3.99 a month after a one-month free trial. Current digital and/or print subscribers can get the app for free. Users who don’t want to pay for the subscription can read one free article each day.The Economist’s decision to launch Espresso is not really a surprise, as many publishers are concentrating their efforts on digital business where subscriber growth potential is significant. For example, the Financial Times recently redesigned its early-morning edition with global news and alerts. However, FirstFT differs from Espresso in that it is a free email newsletter, and includes its own news as well as aggregated content from outside sources. The New York Times offers both – a mobile app and morning and afternoon briefings via email.As companies like The Economist shift their focus digitally, it will be interesting to see how that impacts their existing business and if they do, indeed, tap into a vast potential market of subscribers.

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