Edible Apple

Maybe there is something to the iPad helping out the publishing industry after all. Wired’s NYC Bureau Chief John C Abell recently tweeted that Wired Magazine’s iPad app was downloaded over 24,000 times in the first 24 hours of its release. And with a $5 pricepoint, that translates into a healthy $84,000 after Apple takes its 30% cut.

Abell also noted that he’s not worried about the iPad app cannibalizing sales of the print edition of the magazine because hardcopy sales and digital downloads are given equal weight in determining monthly circulation. “Even if there is cannibalization it still all goes to the bottom line,” he tweeted.

And to provide some contextual background to the 24,000 figure, Abel writes in a more in-depth followup:

It’s difficult to put that number in context, because there aren’t many iPad magazine apps yet, these being the earliest days of the new platform for which publishers have high hopes but little track record to parse.

But there is a bit. Business Insider earlier Thursday had estimated Wired’s first-day run would be in the 3,000 range. Media sources tell Wired.com that the July app of Popular Science — an April 3 iPad launch partner — sold about 18,000 total. Wired magazine sells about 82,000 single copies on newsstands every month and has about 672,000 subscribers.