With just 5.4 million people Norway is significantly smaller than cities like London or New York, but that should lead observers and investors to the positive conclusion that small markets can still be lucrative and competitive.
Reviewing the latest numbers from the unlimited subscription market in Norway, the country’s leading industry journal Bok365 notes that the market leaders Storytel NO and domestic rival Fabel (owned by Lydbokforlaget, powered by Beat Technology) collected revenue of NOK 430 million ($50.5 million), with Fabel accounting for NOK 156 ($18.5 million) of that.
New and pending entrants like BookBeat and Nextory are not recorded yet, but we can safely assume they are making an impact, and may well be eating into Storytel NO and Fabel market share, but in an expanding market that’s not necessarily bad news for any player.
Nok365 reports Storytel NO as having over 150,000 subscribers and calculates Fabel subscribers, based on revenue compared to Storytel NO, at almost 90,000.
Per Bok365, Storytel NO is paying publishers 62%, but notes calculations for Fabel are more complex. See the OP for detail on that.
Here just to note the Storytel NO royalty rate of 62% should not be assumed to apply across Storytel other markets.
Nok365 reports slowing growth in Fabel’s subscriber rates, from 159% in 2018-19 down to 64% in 2019-20 and so far this year just 14%.
But as noted above, this does not mean Fabel is losing out to its rivals, just facing stiffer competition, but in a still expanding market.
Too soon yet to answer the question that many observers are wondering – at what point does a small market like Norway, already at full internet penetration, reach saturation point?
With just 5.4 million people Norway is significantly smaller than cities like London or New York, but that should lead observers and investors to the positive conclusion that small markets can still be lucrative and competitive.
And for a few years yet there looks to be ample room for all players to grow.
