The New Maxim: Go East

Maturing markets are turning Western magazine publishers in a new media direction--east, to China and India. Rock chronicler Rolling Stone will launch its Chinese edition in February. "Consumer-lifestyle publishing in China is a new phenomenon," says Rolling Stone publisher Steve DeLuca. There's little competition too: "The Chinese government wasn't up to the rock-'n'-roll scene."

It will be soon, now that local editions of glossies from Maxim to Vogue are feeding the hunger for gadgets, new duds and fast cars--social ammunition for middle-class lifestyles.

Last year China's magazine market totaled about $400 million in advertising, but with 20% annual growth, it would eclipse Europe's and Japan's by 2010. In India, where Maxim launched last month and Playboy promises a nude-free edition, $1.5 billion worth of print ads were sold last year. International editions are usually low-investment licensing deals. Maxim has 31 such editions, Rolling Stone 11. China requires foreign media to choose local partners, and neither it nor India has a standard for auditing circulation. But DeLuca isn't worried. "As they evolve, we will evolve, and business will form around it," he says.