A MAGAZINE WITH IDENTITY ISSUES

eLeader is a magazine with an identity crisis.
One year ago the Thai language magazine was joined at the hip with its sister title Business.Com magazine. By 'joined at the hip' I mean both magazines were printed as one publication - back to front with two separate front covers. Now eLeader has been similarly joined to another sister title, the licensed local language edition of PC Magazine.
Publishers ARIP are clearly saving print costs by combining two titles in one. And it could also be argued that, at just 48 pages, PC Magazine Thailand would struggle to survive even with a quarter of its pagination being advertising. With such a low page count it would look painfully thin and unattractive on the news stands. It could also be argued that, for their 85 baht, readers are getting two magazines for the price of one, however you can also say they're just getting half of the magazine they intend to buy.
The case of PC Magazine is interesting because the flagship U.S. edition ceased its print edition in November 2008 and moved entirely online. The Thai licensed edition has continued to appear in print, as have other regional and local editions around the world.
This example proves the point yet again the print still dominates the markets in Thailand, and how online simply isn't a viable business option for the vast majority of publishers.