ASEAN e-reader boom led by 2 companies
The e-reader market in Southeast Asia is booming. ASEAN people have proven themselves eager consumers of the latest “smart” gadgets, like tablets and iPhones, and they are increasingly doing their leisure reading on these devices. Two e-readers in particular are at the head of the pack – Thailand’s Ookbee, and Indonesia’s Scoop – and now they are working together.
Ookbee is an e-book software company that provides Thailand’s largest e-bookstore, with 88 per cent of the market share. The company’s founder, Natavudh “Moo” Pungcharoenpong, claims that Ookbee adds 6,000 new subscribers every day. Last year, the company delivered around 8 million e-books to subscribers, and collected several million dollars in revenue.
Ookbee followed up on its smashing success in 2012 by launching several new products this year. It recently started Ookbee Live, which filters social media, Ookbee Audio Books, and Ookbee Video Streaming. The company aims to have four million subscribers by the end of this year.
The ASEAN region’s other major e-reader is Scoop, a product of Indonesian software company Apps Foundry. Scoop is a “digital newsstand” that specialises in providing a large selection of newspapers and magazines for tablet computers. Apps Foundry raised $2.42 million in a Series B round of funding in April and is using the money to expand into several Asian countries. So far, Scoop has launched localized iOS apps in India, Singapore, Malaysia, and the Philippines. To date, the Scoop app has been downloaded over 500,000 times.
Ookbee and Scoop are at similar stages – poised to massively expand in the near term. Last year, the executives at Ookbee and Apps Foundry decided to take advantage of their similarities by signing a partnership agreement to assist each other in regional expansion. The companies will share knowledge and expertise, negotiate deals together with new and bigger publishers, and cross-market their products.
Publishers are likely to look favourably on this partnership because it will make it easier for them to reach potential customers in Southeast Asia. Ookbee and Scoop have essentially combined their pools of subscribers, and can offer publishers a much larger audience together than they ever could alone. This should greatly benefit both companies, and has the potential to result in long-lasting regional market dominance.
The e-reader market in Southeast Asia is booming. ASEAN people have proven themselves eager consumers of the latest “smart” gadgets, like tablets and iPhones, and they are increasingly doing their leisure reading on these devices. Two e-readers in particular are at the head of the pack – Thailand’s Ookbee, and Indonesia’s Scoop – and now they are working together. Ookbee is an e-book software company that provides Thailand’s largest e-bookstore, with 88 per cent of the market share. The company’s founder, Natavudh “Moo” Pungcharoenpong, claims that Ookbee adds 6,000 new subscribers every day. Last year, the company delivered around 8...
The e-reader market in Southeast Asia is booming. ASEAN people have proven themselves eager consumers of the latest “smart” gadgets, like tablets and iPhones, and they are increasingly doing their leisure reading on these devices. Two e-readers in particular are at the head of the pack – Thailand’s Ookbee, and Indonesia’s Scoop – and now they are working together.
Ookbee is an e-book software company that provides Thailand’s largest e-bookstore, with 88 per cent of the market share. The company’s founder, Natavudh “Moo” Pungcharoenpong, claims that Ookbee adds 6,000 new subscribers every day. Last year, the company delivered around 8 million e-books to subscribers, and collected several million dollars in revenue.
Ookbee followed up on its smashing success in 2012 by launching several new products this year. It recently started Ookbee Live, which filters social media, Ookbee Audio Books, and Ookbee Video Streaming. The company aims to have four million subscribers by the end of this year.
The ASEAN region’s other major e-reader is Scoop, a product of Indonesian software company Apps Foundry. Scoop is a “digital newsstand” that specialises in providing a large selection of newspapers and magazines for tablet computers. Apps Foundry raised $2.42 million in a Series B round of funding in April and is using the money to expand into several Asian countries. So far, Scoop has launched localized iOS apps in India, Singapore, Malaysia, and the Philippines. To date, the Scoop app has been downloaded over 500,000 times.
Ookbee and Scoop are at similar stages – poised to massively expand in the near term. Last year, the executives at Ookbee and Apps Foundry decided to take advantage of their similarities by signing a partnership agreement to assist each other in regional expansion. The companies will share knowledge and expertise, negotiate deals together with new and bigger publishers, and cross-market their products.
Publishers are likely to look favourably on this partnership because it will make it easier for them to reach potential customers in Southeast Asia. Ookbee and Scoop have essentially combined their pools of subscribers, and can offer publishers a much larger audience together than they ever could alone. This should greatly benefit both companies, and has the potential to result in long-lasting regional market dominance.
