R. Richard
Literotica Guru
- Joined
- Jul 24, 2003
- Posts
- 10,382
I get a substantial chunk of my paid book sales via Barnes & Noble. I have been afraid that Barnes & Noble might go bankrupt. This is the kind of news that I have been waiting for,
Barnes & Noble’s Nook gets a second act thanks to Samsung
By James Covert
Barnes & Noble has finally struck a deal to solve its Nook problem.
The bookseller inked a partnership with Samsung to give its money-losing e-reader a second life as a co-branded tablet device to compete with Amazon’s Kindle and Apple’s iPads.
The new Samsung device, to be called the Galaxy Tab 4 Nook, will be embedded with B&N’s proprietary software to give it easier access to its trove of more than 3 million books, magazines and newspapers.
“This will drive cutting-edge designs as well as dramatically cut losses” in the Nook division, Janney analyst David Strasser said.
Indeed, B&N said Nook employees will be moved from an expensive building in Palo Alto, Calif., to smaller, lower-rent digs in nearby Santa Clara.
B&N has agreed to buy at least 1 million of the Samsung devices within the first 12 months of the partnership — a quantity that B&N execs said would be manageable and relatively risk-free.
The new gadget, which will debut as a 7-inch model in August, will be B&N’s first Nook update since last October.
In February, after more than a year of drastically disappointing results for the Nook, B&N signaled it was looking for a partner to keep the Nook alive.
The solution, as many suspected, is for B&N to effectively exit the hardware business while it focuses on becoming a digital content provider and continues to operate nearly 700 stores nationwide.
Samsung is swooping in despite the fact that Microsoft has been an investor in the Nook. Microsoft appears to have balked at taking a role similar to Samsung’s as the Nook’s fortunes have steadily eroded following a disastrous 2012 holiday season.
In the most recent quarter, heavy cost-cutting helped narrow the Nook operation’s loss before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization to $61.8 million from $190.4 million a year earlier.
Barnes & Noble’s Nook gets a second act thanks to Samsung
By James Covert
Barnes & Noble has finally struck a deal to solve its Nook problem.
The bookseller inked a partnership with Samsung to give its money-losing e-reader a second life as a co-branded tablet device to compete with Amazon’s Kindle and Apple’s iPads.
The new Samsung device, to be called the Galaxy Tab 4 Nook, will be embedded with B&N’s proprietary software to give it easier access to its trove of more than 3 million books, magazines and newspapers.
“This will drive cutting-edge designs as well as dramatically cut losses” in the Nook division, Janney analyst David Strasser said.
Indeed, B&N said Nook employees will be moved from an expensive building in Palo Alto, Calif., to smaller, lower-rent digs in nearby Santa Clara.
B&N has agreed to buy at least 1 million of the Samsung devices within the first 12 months of the partnership — a quantity that B&N execs said would be manageable and relatively risk-free.
The new gadget, which will debut as a 7-inch model in August, will be B&N’s first Nook update since last October.
In February, after more than a year of drastically disappointing results for the Nook, B&N signaled it was looking for a partner to keep the Nook alive.
The solution, as many suspected, is for B&N to effectively exit the hardware business while it focuses on becoming a digital content provider and continues to operate nearly 700 stores nationwide.
Samsung is swooping in despite the fact that Microsoft has been an investor in the Nook. Microsoft appears to have balked at taking a role similar to Samsung’s as the Nook’s fortunes have steadily eroded following a disastrous 2012 holiday season.
In the most recent quarter, heavy cost-cutting helped narrow the Nook operation’s loss before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization to $61.8 million from $190.4 million a year earlier.
