Storytel launches in Indonesia with 150,000 titles – but is Storytel expansion now on hold?

Indriani Widyasari faces a challenge she could never have anticipated in January 2021 when she took on the role of Storytel Indonesia Country Manager: convincing the new and Interim CEO Ingrid Bojner and the investors that Indonesia is worth putting a lot of energy into despite a monthly subscription rate of just $1.39.

As I write this there appears to be no official confirmation from Storytel HQ that its Indonesia platform is live, but the Storytel international site has been updated, and the Storytel ID site can be found here. Indonesian media received a localised press release on Friday.

What we do know is the app has gone live with 150,000 audiobooks (no mention of ebooks) comprising Indonesia and English language titles, and local-language offerings include exclusive titles from notable Indonesia authors (including Dewi Lestari, Tere Liye, Ika Natassa, Asma Nadia, Ahmad Fuadi, Pidi Baiq, and Habiburrahman El Shirazy) and narrated by notable Indonesian voice artists (including Dian Sastrowardoyo, Adinia Wirasti and Fedi Nuril).

In the prepared statement Storytel ID Country Manager Indriani Widyasari said:

With the launch of Storytel in Indonesia today, the local team and I are very pleased to be able to provide the opportunity for Indonesian consumers to discover a modern audiobook experience, which connects us to prosperity, creativity, and a wider perspective.

Storytel ID offers a seven days free trial with “Local” and Premium” subscription options that range from IDR 19,900 ($1.39) to IDR 39,000 $2.72), with a discount for a six-monthly bulk buy. the lowest rate makes Storytel Indonesia the lowest dollar-compared market, and per analysis below, that will not impress short-term investors,

The Storytel ID launch comes a year after Storytel launched in Egypt and Saudi Arabia –

a move that was quickly followed by a launch in Israel, the latter via acquisition.

Indonesia was expected to launch in 2021 also, but that was delayed for unknown reasons, and the next Storytel “launch” was in the USA, when Storytel acquired Audiobooks.com, which it appears for now is not being rebranded as Storytel. In fact the US site carries no reference whatsoever to Storytel.

Per the Storytel International site there are now 26 Storytel operations, excluding the USA’s Audiobooks.com which has yet to be added to the list, although Storytel has previously reported Audiobooks.com has been consolidated into Storytel’s financials since January 7 2022.

That said, with Storytel Russia on indefinite hold –

we might reasonably class Storytel as a 26 market operation including the USA.

But the big question is, where next for Storytel?

With founding CEO Jonas Tellander no longer at the helm –

and with Storytel committed to focussing its resources on the most promising markets (which until a few weeks ago included Russia), there seems little prospect of any further new Storytel markets this year or next.

That said, we should be open to the possibility of hub-based launches, whereby a new common-language territory is opened up using existing content, and run from a “hub” market, as already happens in the Middle East, where Storytel MENA operates out of Dubai with three arms – Storytel UAE, Storytel Saudi Arabia and Storytel Egypt, and in Latin America where the Spanish-language markets include Colombia, but run from the hub base at Storytel Mexico.

Storytel operates two other hubs – running Storytel Netherlands and Storytel Belgium from the Netherlands, and what has been referred to by Storytel as an Asia hub in Thailand, although the three Asia operations – Singapore, South Korea and Thailand – all appear to be run independently with their own country managers.

For those who like to read my projections – if only to throw them back in my face if they don’t pan out – I think the next expansions are likely to be in Latin America, with Argentina and Chile strong contenders, using mainly existing content and run from Storytel Mexico.

For Europe, having been beaten to France by Nextory, I suspect Storytel may now tone down its European plans for a year or two, and we can be totally confident the “40-markets by 2023” vision that Jonas Tellander outlined in January 2020 is not going to happen.

It’s a bitter irony that as the Pandemic recedes the company that seemed likely to emerge strongest from the global digital boom the Pandemic caused is treading water as new management priorities take shape.

The one real beacon of hope still on the horizon for Storytel is the English-language markets, with a foothold in the USA and an at least notional presence, through Audiobooks.com, in Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the UK.

But as yet there are no indications on the Storytel jobs board that vacancies are up and coming for these or any other new markets.

But a job description posted on LinkedIn one week ago for “Publishing Manager to Storytel Netherlands” includes this remark:

…with several new markets launching in the coming year.

We can count Indonesia as one of those, but can only guess whether the plural of markets as used was just a hang-over from the Tellander era script of a few weeks ago, or a sign there is still life in Storytel’s expansion plans. My guess is not, but I’ll happily be proved wrong, Ingrid Bojner!

Meanwhile it will be interesting to watch how Storytel Indonesia is allowed to fare, given the shift in focus to the more immediately profitable markets.

Indriani Widyasari faces a challenge she could never have anticipated in January 2021 when she took on the role of Storytel Indonesia Country Manager: convincing the new and Interim CEO Ingrid Bojner and the investors that Indonesia is worth putting a lot of energy into despite a monthly subscription rate of just $1.39.

Bojner, I’ve no doubt, understands the value of Indonesia, a country of 212 million internet users and still at less than 77% penetration.

But as Jonas Tellander found, vision, ambition and stock-market interests do not always coincide.