Quote:
Originally Posted by AnemicOak
But is that a good thing for B&N/Nook? Yes, the Nooks can read "standard" Adept DRM'd ePub's as well as those with B&N's version of the DRM. This means they're competing with Kobo and Books on Board and others for content sales to some extent and a lot of the time Kobo & BoB will be cheaper (somethings by a lot) with promo's and coupons. They make nothing or next to nothing on devices and are relying on that content sales.
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It certainly doesn't help their bottom line when somebody buys a Nook reader and gives their content money to Kobo or Sony. That is the logic behind their tablet lockdown.
The problem is they are losing their shirts relying on hardware alone to drive their content sales. Their quarterly report that came out today has them with $316 million in revenue and $506 million in costs resulting in $190 million worth of losses. Of which $21Million was returned hardware from their partner channels.
For all that people harp on Amazon low prices they tend to forget that when it comes to hardware it is Nook that is most aggressive in pricing their hardware. The closest (feature) equivalent to those $79 Nook STRs are the over $100 Kobo Touch and Sony T2, not the $69 ad-supported touchless Kindle 4.
It's almost a kneejerk reaction with them: slow sales? Drop the price.
Like now: the HD++ seems to be slow moving despite its generally well-regarded hardware and lower price. Do they consider loosing their deathgrip on app installs? Nope. They throw in a $50 credit, lowering the effective cost to $219. If cheap doesn't work, try cheaper. And cheaper.
How reasonable is that?
Edit: Sorry, Nook STR is down to $64.
http://www.amazon.com/Barnes-Noble-S.../dp/140053271X
Jeeze...