Barnes & Noble Reduces Nook In Bid to Compete with Amazon & Apple

Updated on

Barnes & Noble Reduces Nook In Bid to Compete with Amazon & Apple

The retail giant, Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE:BKS) has announced a price reduction of $20 in the price of its less-expensive model Nook tablet computer. The move is in response to the price at which Kindle Fire is sold by Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN).

The retail giant announced this strategy on Sunday, cutting the price of the 8-gigabyte model Nook tablet to $179 from the current $199. The rival Kindle Fire, which has 6 gigabytes of memory, sells for $199. The biggest U.S. traditional book retailer also slashed the price of 16-gigabyte Nook tablet to $199 from $249.

This move from the retail giant will heat up the already volatile tablet market, which up till now has been dominated by Apple  Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s iPad and the iOS system, despite growing competition from players like Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (LON:BC94) and Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), which is due to launch a tablet based on Windows in October. The tablet market is expected to go for a roller coaster ride again in September, when Apple might introduce a much hyped 7-inch iPad mini, along with the iPhone 5. According to the rumors, iPad mini could come with a price tag ranging from $249 to $299.

According to research from IHS iSuppli, Apple dominated the worldwide media tablet market during the second quarter of the year. According to the research, Apple registered a 44 percent increase from the first quarter of the year, in the total shipment of tablets, which is almost 70 percent of all tablet shipments in the quarter. As per the report, Apple dominated by shipping 17 million iPads, Samsung clinched second place with 2.25 million tablet shipments, a 3 percent increase from first quarter. Shipments for Amazon’s Kindle fell 13% in the second quarter, to 1.03 million units. With such figures, almost three out of every four tablet computers purchased around the world last quarter were iPads. Apple’s 17 million shipments of iPad 2s and third-generation iPads was almost seven times that of its closest rival Samsung Galaxy Tabs.

According to Rhoda Alexander, head of the firm’s tablet research, “With the expected entrance of the 7-inch version of the iPad in September, Apple is sending a clear message that it plans to dominate this market over the long term,” she also added “Apple’s major media tablet rivals, Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) and Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), hope to challenge Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) in the second half of the year, but will be facing formidable headwinds, with no sign that the market leader is backing off of its aggressive strategy in the market.”

Leave a Comment