International

Nxtbook Media Reports Record Growth

Lancaster, PA — January 5, 2007

Lancaster, PA-based digital publisher Nxtbook Media has reported record sales and traffic for the year ending 2006. Sales for the year were 254% over the company’s 2005 figures, and the number of Nxtbooks opened by readers was 359% more than 2005 figures. In addition, the number of pages viewed per Nxtbook reader increased nearly ten percent.

“Taken together, these numbers tell a compelling story,” said Nxtbook Media CEO Michael Biggerstaff. “Everyone loves to talk about revenue and our ’06 increase was outstanding. But the dramatic increases in readers and pages read per visit talk to the viability of the digital edition marketplace and the overall user satisfaction of our publishers’ audiences.”

Nxtbook Media’s year-end traffic reports also pointed out another trend consistent with other web content providers: an astounding increase in the amount of video streamed from digital editions.

“A 2005 to 2006 percentage comparison would be too lop-sided to be meaningful,” said Biggerstaff. “It’s simpler to say that we’re currently streaming hundreds of gigabytes of video per month and that we’re streaming the amount of video each week that we saw in the entire year of 2005."

Biggerstaff attributed the dramatic growth to the following factors:

• Continued focus on product development. Nxtbook announced four major product upgrades in 2006 – far more than any other provider in the marketplace. Product upgrades were designed to improve usability of the product as well as to help publishers sell more sponsorships – a key factor in digital edition success.
• Increased focus on International resellers. In 2006, Nxtbook Media added representation in three countries, bringing the total of International resellers to six.
• Steady strong growth within the organization. During 2006, Nxtbook Media tripled both its sales and production staff, but did so methodically throughout the year.

Biggerstaff admitted that Nxtbook Media's numbers are contrary to what others in the marketplace have speculated regarding the viability of digital editions.

"While we occasionally read reports that publishers are struggling to be successful with digital editions, our statistics show otherwise. At Nxtbook Media, we're working with more publishers than ever, more readers are reading their digital editions each month and are staying inside those digital editions for a longer period of time, so our personal experiences are great and have only gotten better from month to month."

Biggerstaff speculated why Nxtbook's numbers may differ from industry perception:

"One, we've been around for a while, so we've already seen what doesn't work and stopped doing it. As new competitors come into the market space, publishers who work with them are missing out on the years of experience we have. And second, of all the 'veterans' in the space, we're the ones who are working the hardest to evolve as the market changes. We think this unique combination of market experience and product development result in a positive experience for our customers."

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