IEEE Consumer Electronics Magazine - October 2015 - 13

more about this market and, more specifically, about the IEEE's place in
what is a US$30 billion plus marketplace worldwide (Figures 1-5).

Elsevier Is the
Dominant STM
Publisher with
US$3.3 Billion in
Revenue in 2013

THE PUBLISHING MARKETPLACE

High

Price or Technology

The marketplace covers technical journals, books, conference proceedings,
and emerging segments such as
eBooks, eZines, and other electronic
publishing products. A key point to
note here is that the market is dominated by a handful of for-profit corporations, with Elsevier being the market
leader with revenues of US$3.3 billion
in 2013, representing approximately
10% of the overall market. This is followed by five to six smaller but still
large "for-profit" corporations with
15% of the market.
The remainder of the market is
fractured. There are more than 1,000
professional associations with approximately one third of the overall market-
US$10 billion in revenues. The IEEE is
one of the largest of these, and the ACS
makes up 2.5% of the overall market.
Nevertheless, is it challenging for the
many nonprofit societies to remain competitive with the much larger corporations that dominate the marketplace.
One interesting initiative is the concept
of a global publishing alliance between
nonprofits, and the IEEE is a leading
participant, working to realize the
vision of a grand alliance of nonprofit publishers.
Corporations like Elsevier are
clearly a strong challenge for IEEE as
they draw volunteers away from volunteer editorial and reviewer roles and
divert content from authors away from
IEEE publications. Elsevier has developed and also controls recommendation systems such as ScienceDirect
and social collaboration tools like
Mendeley that are increasingly popular
with researchers.
Note that many distinguished IEEE
Members also participate in Elsevier's
activities, contributing to improve the
quality of its journals. Elsevier has
more than 7,000 active editors and
more than 600,000 authors. Editors
normally receive honoraria or other
compensations for their participation,

Global Society
Publishing
* US$10.2 Billion
* 33% of Global STM
Market
* 1,000 Professional
Associations and
Learned Societies

Medium or
Average

14.9%
SpringerMacmillan,
Wiley, Kluwer,
Thomson Sci,
Informa and
IHS

Elsevier
(RELX)
10.2%

2.5%
ACS and IEEE
2.1%
ASME, IET, IOP, AIP, ACM, ASCE,
APS, SPIE, AIAA, and OSA

Low or
Standard

Narrowest

Broadest
Breadth of Product Line

FIgURE 1. US $32.5 billion STM Publishing Market: 2013.

Elsevier Is the Most Significant of All of IEEE's Competitors
* Elsevier Is a Major Division of the US$9.5 Billion Reed-Elsevier Media Giant
* Elsevier Produces Technical Publications and Content
- Accounts for 35% of Reed-Elsevier's Revenue, but 46% of Operating Profit
Revenue

Adjusted Operating Profit
£1,749 m
12%

£6,035 m
14%
35%

13%
46%
6%

26%

16%

23%

Scientific, Technical and Medical

Business Information

Risk Solutions

Exhibitions

Legal

FIgURE 2. Elsevier as an IEEE competitor.

which provides an additional challenge
to the IEEE.
The general strategy among the forprofit publishers has been to continue
to grow volume through new journal
launches and the introduction of more
author-pays journals to meet the growth
needs of emerging markets, particularly
in India, China, and Latin America.

SIGNIFICANT MARKET
CONSOLIDATIONS IN 2014-2015
This market saw significant changes
in the past 18 months. Most significantly, Macmillan Science and Springer Science and Business Media
announced their proposed merger in
January 2015. The merger is subject to
review by competition authorities, but

october 2015

IEEE Consumer Electronics Magazine

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Consumer Electronics Magazine - October 2015