Barnes & Noble Makes Nook Available At Best Buy
Barnes
& Noble plans to sell its Nook eBook reader at Best Buy starting April
18th. The specialty bookstore chain is expanding the distribution of the
$259.99 Nook as it faces
growing competition from Apple's iPad. The deal between Best Buy and Barnes
& Noble will put the Nook in 1,070 Best Buy stores and will also place
Barnes & Noble's BN eReader software on some of the personal computers and
smartphones the electronics retailer sells.
The deal with Best Buy will not only increase the Nook's availability (previously it was only available through Barnes & Noble's website and in 723 of its bookstores), but it will also improve the eBook reader's ability to compete with the recently launched Apple iPad, which functions as an ereader among other things. Best Buy and Apple stores currently are the only locations that carry the iPad.
"This partnership provides them (Barnes & Noble) with an additional distribution channel, which is critical to driving sales of the Nook," said Michael Souers, an analyst with Standard & Poor's Equity Research.
Best Buy also currently sells Sony's Reader, another major player in the ereader market. The final major player in the ereader market is Amazon's Kindle, which is only available through the Amazon website.
The deal with Best Buy will not only increase the Nook's availability (previously it was only available through Barnes & Noble's website and in 723 of its bookstores), but it will also improve the eBook reader's ability to compete with the recently launched Apple iPad, which functions as an ereader among other things. Best Buy and Apple stores currently are the only locations that carry the iPad.
"This partnership provides them (Barnes & Noble) with an additional distribution channel, which is critical to driving sales of the Nook," said Michael Souers, an analyst with Standard & Poor's Equity Research.
Best Buy also currently sells Sony's Reader, another major player in the ereader market. The final major player in the ereader market is Amazon's Kindle, which is only available through the Amazon website.
