Some people like to read magazines on the train, others prefer the waiting room at the dental surgery. Zinio, the online magazine publisher, however, believes that the future for reading magazines, from Playboy to Cosmopolitan, will involve sitting in front of a computer or using a handheld device, such as an iPhone.

Yesterday the company launched Global Newsstand, an umbrella website that will make nearly 1,000 titles from around the world available to buy online.

Customers can buy the latest editions of magazines or subscribe to their favourite titles, often at a reduced price and in their chosen currency.

Zinio, which has agreements with publishers including IPC, Gruner & Jahr, Hachette Filipacchi and Natmags to sell online versions of their magazines, plans a significant expansion drive this year.

It wants to increase the number of British magazines available for sale online from 100 to 300, and 2,000 magazines could be available globally by the end of the year.

Analysts have been sceptical about the appeal of online consumer magazines. While trade magazines have proved a success online, magazines are often seen as a luxury purchase and readers would prefer to own the physical product.

However, Zinio believes that the lower cost of online magazines and the speed of delivery will be enough to entice customers.

Joan Sola, Zinio’s chief executive of Europe and Latin America, said: “Someone in Europe may want to buy the latest edition of InStyle before it goes out of style. Our service is the quickest way to access magazines.”

Zinio also said that it had struck an alliance with Acceso Group, a division of Havas Media, to act as Zinio’s marketing arm in Europe and Latin America as it seeks to increase its worldwide client base.

The deal with Havas comes as Zinio has been seeking to raise its profile. This month, the company recruited Jeanniey Mullen, a leading digital media executive at WPP Group’s OgilvyOne unit, to become its chief marketing officer.

Zinio is owned by Gilvest, the investment company of the entrepreneur David Gilmour, the founder and former chairman of Fiji Water and co-founder of companies including the South Pacific Hotel Corporation, Barrick Gold Corporation and Horsham Corporation. Zinio, which has offices in San Francisco and New York, claims to have five million users, particularly in America, and believes that the launch of the single global website will encourage new customers.

The company is hoping that its new technology will encourage new publishers to join. It is understood to be keen to win other publishing groups, such as the FHM-owner Bauer.

Some publishers are understood to have had concerns about the security of offering their magazines online. Zinio insists that the files cannot be copied and magazines can only be printed page by page.

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