| Weekly News Roundup |
| 1. Readly has fewer subscribers than in 2021 – Press release Readly, a Swedish digital magazine and newspaper app, had fewer subscribers during the last quarter of 2022 as compared to the same time period in 2021. On the other hand, the subscriber count grew slightly between Q3 and Q4 of 2022. “The number of fully paying subscribers at the end of the quarter was 452,466. This is a decrease of 5.4 percent compared to the fourth quarter of 2021 (478,362) and an increase of 1.3 percent compared to the third quarter of 2022 (446,861).” Read more 2. Danish car sharing service exits Sweden – Dagens industri The Danish car-sharing service Green Mobility says goodbye to Sweden. Slow growth, political reluctance and high costs make it impossible to succeed, says the company’s CEO. “The Danish listed car sharing service has been present in Gothenburg and Malmö since mid-2020. But soon, approximately 200 cars will leave the country. On January 31, Green Mobility will shut down all its operations in Sweden.” Read more 3. Reuters to create 100 jobs and reboot paywall following London Stock Exchange deal – Press Gazette News wire service Reuters will create 100 new editorial roles around the world and recommence its plan for a paywall under an expansion of its partnership with the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG). “Refinitiv, a former division of Thomson Reuters owned by LSEG since 2021, began a 30-year agreement with Reuters in 2018 to be the exclusive distributor of the agency’s news content to the financial community.” Read more 4. ChatGPT may charge $42/mo for a paid tier, as Microsoft invests again – PC World Microsoft said Monday that it is entering a “third phase” of its relationship with ChatGPT developer OpenAI through a multibillion-dollar investment. But the deal may come with a price for users, too: a $42 monthly “professional” tier subscription that sources say OpenAI is testing among early adopters, writes PC World. “The fact that ChatGPT would eventually evolve into a paid version wasn’t a well-kept secret: Sam Altman, the chief executive of OpenAI, tweeted last December that the service would be monetized at some point to offset costs.” Read more Weekly Analysis Roundup 1. How a Swedish-German app attracts big-name publishers to join a curated subscription bundle – Press Gazette Paywalled publishers such as the Financial Times, Economist, Bloomberg and NYT are on board the new app Informed, co-founded by former Spotify-exec Axel Bard Bringéus. “Informed, which went live in November and costs £51.99 per year or £6.99 per month, sells itself as allowing people to access “world-class journalism from premium publishers, curated by editors and experts”.” Read more 2. Paid Microsoft subscription perks quietly infiltrate more Windows apps – PC World There’s something quietly happening to Windows apps and services: They’re being assimilated into existing Microsoft subscriptions, adding value but also introducing a paid tier of content into Windows apps that have traditionally been entirely free. “The Clipchamp and Solitaire changes may be small in scope. The question they suggest, however, is far larger and somewhat unsettling: With more and more Windows “apps” revealing their true selves as potential subscription services, however, what will that mean for the future of Windows?” Read more 3. Subscription box companies struggle to adjust to life after lockdowns – Financial Times During the pandemic lockdowns, receiving a home-cooking meal kit from a company such as Blue Apron was both an evening activity and a way to avoid heading to the grocery store. But while sales of subscription boxes soared when consumers were wary of entering physical stores, many are now turning their backs on the services as life returns to normal, writes Financial Times. “As a result [of the slowdown], several of the leading subscription box companies are now embarking on a recovery plan: cutting costs and diversifying, leveraging customer data to launch new products that do not rely on subscription revenue.” Read more 4. Tien Tzuo: Three big shifts that define success in the Subscription Economy – Subscribed Success in the Subscription Economy comes down to navigating three big shifts, writes Tien Tzuo, CEO of Zuora, in an article on Subscribed: The shift towards customer relationships, a shift to dynamic monetization, and a shift to a mindset that goes deeper, not bigger. “So I leave you with this question: is your company in the income business or the outcome business? Income businesses think about the product and sales first. Outcome businesses think with the customer-first.” Read more |
