B&N Anticipates Bright Digital Future

November 30, 2011 | News | Leave A Comment

Barnes & Noble has super-high hopes for the future of the digital side of its business.

Publishers Weekly reports the retailer expects its sales of ebooks to skyrocket from about $250 million in 2010 to over $2 billion in 2015.

That’s according to CEO William Lynch, who spoke at a meeting for investors earlier this month.

And while ebook sales are expected to keep climbing, B&N anticipates print book sales will head in the opposite direction – dropping from about $3.6 billion in 2010 to about $2.8 billion in 2015.

The silver lining in that sober news is that B&N believes its share of the print book market will grow from an estimated 17 percent in 2010 to 20 percent in 2015. That’s due to the closing of Borders.

The book retailer also expects to see sales gains when  it comes to its Nook devices and content, such as ebooks, magazines and apps.

New Nook Outscores Kindle

July 22, 2011 | News | Leave A Comment
The Nook Simple Touch, black and white with touch screen

More evidence that Barnes & Noble’s Nook is nipping at the heels of industry leader Kindle by Amazon.

Consumer Reports  says the new version of the Nook e-reader, the Simple Touch, has outscored Kindle in its ratings for the first time.

According to Consumer Reports, both e-readers have black-and-white screens, but the Simple Touch also has touch-screen navigation and weighs less than the Kindle.

Amazon’s Kindle

You can also borrow ebooks from the public library with the Simple Touch. Kindle is expected to add the library feature sometime later this year.

Consumer Reports also says an e-book reader is still the best way to go – rather than a tablet like the iPad – if reading books is your main use for the device.

The lighter weight makes holding it for long periods of time more comfortable and the screen is easier to read than the text on tablets’ LCD screens, especially in bright sunlight.

Barnes & Noble's Book Bonanza

January 13, 2011 | News | 4 comments


I’m glad to see it’s too early to write an obituary for tree-books and the retailers that carry them.
 
Barnes & Noble reports it had a terrific holiday season and that sales of physical books – especially hardcovers – exceeded its expectations. Sales were up more than eight percent at the retailer’s bookstores.

B&N.com is also experiencing tremendous gains. Total sales at B&N.com rose 67 percent during the nine-week holiday period that ended on Jan. 1.

The company says it sold “virtually its entire inventory of Nookcolor and E-Ink devices during the holiday season.”  December 23 was the biggest sales day in the company’s history, according to Barnes & Noble.

I, for one, am very glad to hear it. No matter how much I enjoy my Kindle, there’s still nothing like the lazy pleasure of drifting into a bookstore, never knowing exactly what I’m going to discover.

I hope these latest sales figures mean my days of wandering into bookstores are far from over.