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Harder Sudoku boost sales in global Sudoku marketThursday, May 10, 2007
Are your favorite Sudoku magazines too easy to solve leaving you unsatisfied way before the end of the month? If so, you can ask the publishers to add some harder ones, though it's very likely they are considering to do so already... Only two years have gone by since the Sudoku debut in the West and a clear trend has arrived: puzzle fans, now familiar with Sudoku solving techniques, are looking for harder challenges. According to several Conceptis publishers sales of magazines and books with harder Sudoku puzzles are going up. Ikedashoten, Conceptis’ book publisher in Japan, first published Sudoku Easy Vol.1 and Sudoku Hard Vol.1 books in September 2006. “Both books did well regardless of the abundant competition, yet Sudoku Hard sold twice as much as Sudoku Easy” says Yamakawa-san, Ikedashoten’s Deputy General Manager. “As a result we published a third book, Sudoku Hard Vol.2 in January 2007, and then two more, Sudoku Hard Vol.3 and 4 in April. We also reprinted the first books to meet demand. We seem to have favorable backwinds ever since we started” Yamakawa-san adds. Spreading to Europe as wellThe trend towards harder Sudoku puzzles is not limited to Japan and is spreading to Europe as well. In Germany, Switzerland and Austria, Rätsel Agentur’s Kniffel Sudoku magazine containing medium, hard and very hard Sudoku puzzles by Conceptis is “the best seller amongst our six Sudoku magazines” says Thomas Küng, president of Rätsel Agentur. In Greece, the sales of Kouiz Sudoku improved when the number of easy puzzles was reduced in favor of hard ones. "As a result we decided to expand this weekly magazine and added 16 hard puzzle pages to the existing 52 pages”, says Telemachos Katopothis, editor of Periodikos Typos. Positive effect on salesThe trend towards harder Sudoku puzzles didn’t skip the Netherlands either. “To quench the thirst for harder Sudoku puzzles we launched Sudoku Killer in October 2006. This bi-monthly magazine is dedicated to Sum Sudoku puzzles, which are considered to be the most challenging Sudoku variant” says Jan Lam, editor of Sanoma Uitgevers' Puzzelsport section. "Sudoku publication sales have stabilized after an estimated decrease of a third compared to their peak 12 months ago, leaving the market still profitable" says Dave Green, president of Conceptis. "Following the trend, it is only reasonable adding harder puzzles will have a positive effect on sales.” Also according to Green, "solving harder Sudoku puzzles can take well over one hour, requiring the use of advanced solving techniques and leaving the solver with an addictive experience and a taste for more." Related resources |
