The move appeared to be inevitable after recent sensationalist covers failed to stave off a collapse in Newsweek’s business. As David Carr reports, the magazine is slated to lose $40 million this year and has seen its subscribers fall from 3 million to 1.5 million in the last decade. More broadly, the company faced a more existential problem in that a “weekly news” magazine has become an anachronism in the digital world.

In this morning’s announcement, Brown wrote that the tablet edition will target a “new highly mobile, opinion-leading audience who want to learn about world events in a sophisticated context.” The product will be subscription based and supplemented with content from The Daily Beast, which took over Newsweek’s online brand in 2010. The relationship between the publications has been complicated since they were first mashed together in an odd 50-50 partnership.  As we reported in 2010, Brown appeared to face an insurmountable task of combining a tired magazine brand with The Daily Beast which itself was losing $10 million a year.

It’s early days, of course, but Newsweek Global appears to face an uphill battle for that coveted “mobile, opinion-leading audience.” These readers are already receiving intense attention from the likes of the Economist and The Atlantic, two publications whose brands, unlike Newsweek, have retained their sheen in the digital era. Meanwhile, other tablet-only plays like The Daily have floundered. Is it realistic for a reborn digital Newsweek to muscle into this space?

Finally, here are some reactions from around the media sphere:

End of print Newsweek may improve its journalism. Desperate newsstand covers were shameful, pandering sensationalism. No more #muslimrage?

— Jeff Jarvis (@jeffjarvis) October 18, 2012

In July, Tina Brown tried to knock down web-only rumors in a memo with the subject line “Scaremongering.” bit.ly/U8Irgc

— Romenesko (@romenesko) October 18, 2012

When I die, I want my obituary to say that I “transitioned to an all-digital format”.

— felix salmon (@felixsalmon) October 18, 2012