News
Japanese Publisher Sales Rankings for First Half of 2012
posted on by Ko Ransom
The Japanese market research firm Oricon released their report on the Japanese publishing market for the first half of 2012 on Tuesday.
Kodansha topped the list in total revenue, up 2.3 percent from the same period in 2011 to 45.720 billion yen (about US$583 million), the first time since 2010 that they have taken the top position for the first half of a year. The report credits Hajime Isayama's Attack on Titan as one of the titles that pushed the company to this level of sales.
Shueisha dropped to second place in revenue after a 12.1 percent drop in sales to 44.003 billion yen (about US$561 million), though the publisher sold the most units over the period, with 85.835 million books sold as compared to Kodansha's 67.649 million units. Oricon cites a drop in manga sales for the company as a major reason behind the drop.
The publishing arm of Square Enix experienced the greatest percentage-wise jump in sales compared to 2011, when it failed to chart in the top ten publishers after the end of the Fullmetal Alchemist manga. The company's revenues were up 21.6 percent to 9.912 billion yen (about US$126 million), in part thanks to the strong performance of the Inu x Boku S.S. manga.
| Rank | Publisher | Units Sold (in Thousands of Units) | % of Market | Proportion vs First Half 2011 | Revenues (in Millions of Yen) | % of Market | Proportion vs First Half 2011 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kodansha | 67,649 | 11.0% | 101.2% | 45,720 | 8.5% | 102.3% |
| 2 | Shueisha | 85,835 | 14.0% | 87.9% | 44,003 | 8.2% | 87.4% |
| 3 | Shogakukan | 46,749 | 7.6% | 101.5% | 29,748 | 5.6% | 96.8% |
| 4 | Kadokawa Group Publishing | 24,621 | 4.0% | 93.9% | 17,462 | 3.3% | 94.3% |
| 5 | Gakushu Kenkyusha | 14,191 | 2.3% | 101.4% | 14,666 | 2.7% | 103.8% |
| 6 | ASCII Media Works | 14,049 | 2.3% | 101.6% | 10,313 | 1.9% | 100.2% |
| 7 | Square Enix | 16,163 | 2.6% | 123.7% | 9,912 | 1.9% | 121.6% |
| 8 | Takarajimasha | 8,570 | 1.4% | 87.8% | 9,155 | 1.7% | 90.4% |
| 9 | Shinchosha | 12,847 | 2.1% | 96.7% | 8,990 | 1.7% | 93.1% |
| 10 | Shobunsha | 8,073 | 1.3% | 97.0% | 8,916 | 1.7% | 94.0% |
Dates Surveyed: 1/2/2012 to 7/1/2012
[Via Oricon Style]
