[fjtorres]

I would disagree with the headline.
A more honest headline would be "Overeach is gutting B&N".
Amazon's prices are *higher* than B&N so you can hardly blame *them* for B&N's problems. Going back to the four-hour price war, B&N has been the one pushing the low-price hardware; Amazon merely matches, or more recently, keeps the price in sight.
How often to do you see Amazon trash-talking B&N? Taking pot-shots at Nook? Complaining about Nook exclusives or B&N's pbook subsidiary?
Amazon has mostly ignored B&N and given them all the rope they needed to hang themselves.

B&N is simply overestimating the appeal of its hardware, its ebookstore, it's brand loyalty. Two years now, they have undersold their expectations so it is more likely that the problem is their expectations rather than an overly aggressive competitor.
They simply don't understand the game they're playing.

One thing sticking with me is B&N's statement that sales disappointed after Black Friday.
Well, yes; they had fantastic Black Friday prices. And the Staples sale was sorely tempting. But after prices went back to normal? The tablets were cheaper but locked down and less useful, the eink readers older tech.

From where I'm sitting, it looks like their Black Friday deals cannibalized their december sales: most people who were looking to get a Nook got them on BF (or through the Staples sale). That mostly left the people who *weren't* going to get a Nook at that time, if ever.

Sometimes big sales promote the brand/product to people who wouldn't otherwise buy--sometimes they simply sell it to people who were already set to buy. And if you don't understand your business well enough to know the likelihood of the two, maybe you shouldn't be in that business.