An article on the changing contemporary methods US companies were using to distribute anime and manga.
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An article on the changing contemporary methods US companies were using to distribute anime and manga.
Animetics 
It’s a little sad that so many initiatives fell apart soon afterwards. At least they tried.
Interesting that Japanese mobile manga got a mention here. How did that end up working out for them? I know that Manga Box exists, and Hetalia started off as a mobile manga, but outside those snibbits there’s a general gap of knowledge. Has mobile manga went on to become a important method of manga distribution in Japan?
I know of Chimamire My Love, a Mamoru Oshii project targeted chiefly at mobile devices: http://www.comicanimation.jp/contents/chimamire-en.html
But generally my knowledge there is pretty fragmentary as well. I’ve seen some articles on it, which are old but point to rapid growth:
2007-stating that it was a $20 million/yr industry then (Businessweek): http://www.businessweek.com/stories/2007-04-09/mobile-phone-manga-storms-japanbusinessweek-business-news-stock-market-and-financial-advice
2010-stating that it was a 42 billion yen ~$420 million/yr industry then (Japan Times): http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2010/11/17/digital/possibilities-are-endless-as-japans-manga-fans-turn-cell-phones-into-libraries#.U-OjY2P5ka0
Web manga has definitely become bigger; I can name 4 series (OPM, Gekkan Shojo Nozaki-kun, Barakamon, WataMote) that are 100k+/2wk regulars and debuted as web-only. It wouldn’t be surprising if mobile manga had also begun to play a bigger role.