The city's newest free newspaper was offered to readers yesterday, taking the number of free titles to six in a cut-throat and saturated market.
Sharp Daily is published by Next Media, the same company that produces Apple Daily, which sells just over 290,000 copies at HK$6 each.
Sharp Daily claims to have a circulation of 800,000. Together with the launch of Sky Post in August, the two have increased the circulation of the city's free newspapers from 1,600,000 copies a day to almost three million. Observers warn that this could put a strain on the printing capacity of newspapers and increase already fierce competition for readership and advertisers.
'The challenge will be how newspapers can stabilise advertisers and retain readership,' said Clement So York-kee, a professor at Chinese University's School of Journalism and Communications.
'People won't take all six free papers on a daily basis - they will choose. [This] will threaten paid newspapers targeting the mass audience,' So said.
Paid newspapers Oriental Daily News and The Sun lowered their prices to HK$5 and HK$4, respectively, from yesterday, which So said was an attempt to retain readership.