Future scraps APC's print edition after 46 years

The end of a 46-year print run

APC, Australia's longest-running technology magazine, is ending its print edition. Its publisher, UK-based Future, is closing its Australian print operation, Mumbrella reported, after the news was first reported by Influencing.^[1] The magazine was first published in May 1980 as Australian Personal Computer.^[1]

APC is not going alone. The same UK-initiated restructure also stops printing Australian Hi-Fi, Sound + Image, Australian Camera and ProPhoto.^[1] No closure date, circulation figures or staff numbers have been given.^[1]

"Not the end of my era"

Editor Ben Mansill, who moved from Next Media to Future in 2018, confirmed the news. "The world is changing so quickly, and the broader media business isn't what it once was," he said. "It's not the end of my era, though."^[1]

Six years ago the tone was different. Marking APC's 40th birthday issue in May 2020, Future Publishing Australia managing director Neville Daniels called it "the biggest selling technology magazine in Australia".^[2]

A long consolidation

APC has absorbed its rivals over the past decade. PC & Tech Authority was folded into it in 2018, and sister title TechLife, formerly PC User, followed in 2022.^[3] Each merger left fewer Australian computing mastheads on the newsstand; this one leaves none from Future in print.

What it means for advertisers

Specialist print has been shrinking for years, and Future's exit removes five titles at once from the Australian newsstand. Technology, audio and camera brands that bought pages in these magazines lose those print placements. Future has not said what, if anything, replaces them locally.