Smartphones: a blessing and a curse for newspapers
The growing popularity of Internet-enabled smartphones is both a blessing and a curse for the newspaper industry. While this trend has led to a 13 percent increase in visitor numbers on newspaper publishers’ websites, it has also resulted in a 14 percent decline in print sales.
Overall, the outlook for the newspaper industry is therefore very neutral, according to a recent report by telecoms giant Orange UK. When it comes to weighing up the impact of the smartphone trend on the newspaper industry, which has come under increasing pressure in recent years, the question of revenue naturally also takes center stage. According to the report, newspaper publishers are still having major problems compensating for the losses from the declining print business with the growth in online user numbers.
Unsurprisingly, the Orange report sees TV broadcasters as the biggest winners of the ongoing smartphone boom within the media industry: Around 14 percent of consumers say they spend more time in front of the TV set by watching video content on mobile devices.
Unsurprisingly, the Orange report sees TV broadcasters as the biggest winners of the ongoing smartphone boom within the media industry: Around 14 percent of consumers say they spend more time in front of the TV set by watching video content on mobile devices.
