Next in line for Storytel is the Indonesia launch, first projected last year. No timeline for that as yet, but when it comes it will be the fourth Storytel launch of 2021, taking Storytel reach to 26 markets across five continents, and with the promise of 40 markets engaged by 2023.
Although Storytel hasn’t made a formal announcement yet, it soft-launched earlier this month in Egypt and Saudi Arabia as part of its Storytel MENA expansion.
The Egypt launch marked Storytel’s first venture into Africa while Saudi Arabia became Storytel’s second Middle East market.
The two countries are operated from the Storytel Arabia (now Storytel MENA) hub in Dubai, UAE, as part of an Arabic-market focus led by Sebastian Bond, former CEO of Kitab Sawti, which itself was acquired by Storytel in July 2020.
While geographically part of MENA, Israel will, it seems, be run independently of Storytel MENA. The country has 7 million people online from a population of 9 million, and an established audiobook market in the form of the Hebrew audiobook firm iCast, a podcasting outfit in Tel Aviv since 2006, that ventured into audiobooks in 2011 and became the firm market leader until acquired by Storytel as part of the Storytel Israel launch plans.
At the time we were told Storytel Israel would launch in Q1 2021, and with less than 48 hours to spare Storytel honoured its commitment, with a starter package including content in Hebrew, Russian and English. No mention of Arabic-language content, and it’s not clear if that will come later. In 2018 Israel downgraded Arabic from a joint official language to a “special status” language, and given the thorny status of Arabs in Israel and the even thornier problem of Palestine it may be Storytel intends to play safe in Israel and steer clear of Arabic content for this market.
About the Israel launch, Ingrid Bojner, Chief Commercial Officer at Storytel, said:
We are very pleased to launch Storytel in Israel, where iCast as the first streamed audiobook service has done a great pioneering work both in establishing the audiobook on the market and in building the relationship with publishers, libraries and other partners.
It will be an exciting new chapter for the streamed audiobook and for the entertainment industry in general in Israel.
The press release continues,
With the launch of Storytel in Israel, the iCast platform will be sharpened, which will include access to content, scale and technical resources that create the conditions for taking the Israeli audiobook market to the next level in terms of user experience, content development, production and marketing.
As part of the iCast acquisition Storytel recruited iCast founder Moti Lippmann, who now acts as Country Manager for Storytel Israel.
Lippmann said:
Streamed audio books are already an established phenomenon in the Israeli market and we can therefore focus on getting more people to discover the benefits of being able to listen to strong stories anywhere and anytime. iCast’s unique local expertise and Storytel’s extensive investments in content, user-friendly technology and accessibility to popular stories, will be a strong combination in Storytel’s Israeli app. I look forward to being able to offer Israeli consumers an unbeatable listening experience.
Next in line for Storytel is the Indonesia launch, first projected last year. No timeline for that as yet, but when it comes it will be the fourth Storytel launch of 2021, taking Storytel reach to 26 markets across five continents, and with the promise of 40 markets engaged by 2023.
While there’s no official word yet, TNPS has speculated that Storytel could have designs on six continents, and Scribd’s launch in Australia may be the catalyst for an early move by Storytel on Oceania.
