News Corp.’s The Daily may have launched a year too early, but the company's perfectly okay with that.
Speaking on a panel at the Consumer Electronics Show on Monday, David Brinker, The Daily’s Senior VP of Business Development and Operations, noted that News Corp.’s iPad newspaper is coming up on its one-year anniversary Feb. 2.
Then he said this: “Maybe that should have been the date we launched the app the first time.”
But he said entering the market too early doesn’t concern him. Brinker pointed out that one day the publication was pronounced dead on arrival and the next day Apple said it was the third highest-grossing app of 2011 after "Angry Birds" and "Smurfs."
Subscriptions cost $3.99 a month and $39.99 for a year, and so far the numbers appear to be well below what The Daily initially said it needed to be a “viable business.”
Also read: News Corp.'s The Daily Failing to Meet Expectations
It reported in October that it had 80,000 paying subscribers while it needs 500,000 to turn a profit.
However, Brinker said anyone arguing The Daily was a failure was being too hasty.
“If the marketplace takes three years to develop, just because you put out the product in year one doesn’t mean it won’t pay in three years.”
The Daily remains the only national news publication designed for the iPad, so it doesn't seem like other companies or journalists are too eager to jump into that market.
Still, in a sign that News Corp. continues to show faith in the product long-term, it announced an agreement with Verizon Wireless on Tuesday to bring its publication to certain Android products. The Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 will be the first device to carry it.
