Downloadable spoken-word audio company Audible said savvier marketing, partnerships with technology companies and the right mix of content is enabling it to attract and retain new customers while cutting member acquisition costs. The cost of acquiring a new member has fallen to $37, half of what it once was, said CFO Andrew Kaplan.
Third-quarter revenue from consumer content, Audible's core business, was $4.8 million, a 60% hike over the comparable period last year. Total revenue, which included a slight decrease in hardware sales, rose to $5.0 million, up from $3.3 million in last year's comparable quarter. For the first nine months of the year, Audible had revenue of $13.5 million, up from $8.6 million during the first three quarters of 2002. Net loss for the quarter slid to $872,404 from $4.5 million during the third quarter of 2002. Net loss for the year to date fell to $3.6 million from $13.8 million during the first nine months of last year.
While discussing their third-quarter results, Audible executives also announced new partnerships and products intended to make the company's content more widely accessible. The new Gateway Digital Music Player is Audible-compatible and will come with a free trial AudioListener membership. The new Treo 600 PalmOne phone is also capable of playing Audible content. The company's ongoing challenge has been to increase the number of people who have devices on which to play its content. Kaplan said Audible's decline in hardware sales "is good news for our business because it continues a trend of more people owning audio devices."
