Barnes and Noble Downgraded due to increased ebook competition

[kennyc]

Stifel downgrades Barnes & Noble on increased competition in e-books


Wed Aug 15, 2012 9:25pm IST

(Reuters) - Brokerage Stifel Nicolaus downgraded top U.S. bookstore chain Barnes & Noble Inc to "hold" from "buy," as it expects competition in the e-book category to heat up with several big companies launching products.

Shares of Barnes & Noble were down more than 5 percent at $12.55 on Wednesday morning on the New York Stock Exchange.

The bookseller, which has bet its future on staking a claim in the e-books industry, has poured hundreds of millions of dollars in developing the Nook digital books and e-readers.

But keeping Nook competitive is expensive: the Nook business lost $77 million on revenue of $163.6 million in the fourth quarter.

Stifel does not expect customers to switch platforms but sees competition heating up as players including Google Inc, Apple Inc and Amazon.com Inc launch tablets and applications.
....

http://in.reuters.com/article/2012/0...87E0QZ20120815

[tubemonkey]

[kennyc]

[bill_mchale]

I wonder... I am not saying that things won't remain tough for B&N, but if Amazon and Google stay focused on tablets, I am not sure how much more of the reader market they will capture. While I am sure some people are buying Nexus tablets to read, I suspect that reading is not a high priority for many of those who buy one.

Personally I would not like an ebook world without B&N.

--
Bill

[djulian]

Originally Posted by bill_mchale

Personally I would not like an ebook world without B&N.

Agreed--I think the competition helps us as readers quite a lot.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by bill_mchale

Personally I would not like an ebook world without B&N.

Originally Posted by djulian

Agreed--I think the competition helps us as readers quite a lot.

I don't see a bright future for B&N. I've never been in one and don't plan to do so.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by kennyc

Mohawk Monkey is great!

[charmian]

I have heard that there's actually a lot of reading done on iPads, so I wouldn't be too sure that people don't read on tablets. I also recall reading surveys that do indicate that people read on their Kindle Fires.

http://news.investors.com/newsfeed/a...l-webcast.aspx

Tomorrow B&N will announce their 1st quarter earnings. So there will probably be more info then on how things have gone recently.

If there really is an iPad Mini, it's the end for B&N's tablets/LCD e-readers.

[bill_mchale]

Originally Posted by charmian

I have heard that there's actually a lot of reading done on iPads, so I wouldn't be too sure that people don't read on tablets. I also recall reading surveys that do indicate that people read on their Kindle Fires.

I don't think anyone is saying that people don't read on their tablets... But I bet there are an awful lot of those tablets are only occasionally used for reading as opposed to dedicated readers.

http://news.investors.com/newsfeed/a...l-webcast.aspx

Tomorrow B&N will announce their 1st quarter earnings. So there will probably be more info then on how things have gone recently.

If there really is an iPad Mini, it's the end for B&N's tablets/LCD e-readers.

Unless Apple can get it in at Nexus 7 like pricing, I doubt that it will be the killer that the Nexus 7 is.

--
Bill

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by bill_mchale

I wonder... I am not saying that things won't remain tough for B&N, but if Amazon and Google stay focused on tablets, I am not sure how much more of the reader market they will capture. While I am sure some people are buying Nexus tablets to read, I suspect that reading is not a high priority for many of those who buy one.

Personally I would not like an ebook world without B&N.

--
Bill

B&N serves a purpose, yes.
It would be a poorer market without them.
But their prospects for *growth* don't look too hot.
Not in the US and not internationally.

The thing is it looks like the US eink market is (for now) plateau-ing and the majority of avid readers that could benefit from dedicated readers have already picked sides. What remains as an untapped market is the casual readers, which explains why B&N, Amazon, and Kobo got into tablets.

And why the baby unicorn, if real, could make a *big* dent in the ebook business.

Originally Posted by bill_mchale

Unless Apple can get it in at Nexus 7 like pricing, I doubt that it will be the killer that the Nexus 7 is.

--
Bill

One thing to keep an eye on, if the iPad mini materializes, is the weight. More than the price.
The lower the weight, the bigger its impact on ebooks...
Get the weight around 8 ounces and it'll sell big even at $300.

[John Carroll]

Then again, the nook is expanding to England, soooo . . . .

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/barnes...113000173.html

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by charmian

I have heard that there's actually a lot of reading done on iPads, ....

But....but.....but.....Jobs said.....

[bill_mchale]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

The thing is it looks like the US eink market is (for now) plateau-ing and the majority of avid readers that could benefit from dedicated readers have already picked sides. What remains as an untapped market is the casual readers, which explains why B&N, Amazon, and Kobo got into tablets.

True, though I suspect that tablets, since one can usually load competing readers on them, actually are eroding lock in.

I suspect.. or at least hope that in 5 years, DRM will be all but extinct in ebooks and readers and tablets will be appliances.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by bill_mchale

True, though I suspect that tablets, since one can usually load competing readers on them, actually are eroding lock in.

Is that supposed to be a bad thing?
For that matter, lock-in is vastly oversold. Between the multiplatform apps and the dude named Alf...

If the publishers need a DRM "blanki" to sleep at night, let them have their delusion.

[SeaKing]

bill_mchale
Personally I would not like an ebook world without B&N.

djulian
Agreed--I think the competition helps us as readers quite a lot.
I don't see a bright future for B&N. I've never been in one and don't plan to do so.

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

I don't see a bright future for B&N. I've never been in one and don't plan to do so.

If you really want to help B&N, then visit their stores, buy stuff. Visit their website. Buy stuff.

I had a job where there was a B&N near the airport. I would go there and browse books in the days before eReaders were really out. I liked it. I would browse books at BAM, and several smaller places. Daltons, etc.

Now I am 50 miles from that B&N and am not sure it is open. All the book stores in the malls are closed except one big BAM about 15 miles away. It had Nooks last time I was in there. There was a lot more merchandise and coffee being sold there than in the old days. They are making it nice for the browsers.

Still I wonder if that BAM and that B&N will stay open. Maybe down in the capital there will be enough business?

Soon we are only going to be left with the Book Shelves at Walmart, at Ingles, at Bilo, at CVS, etc. as far as physical books you can thumb through.

You will be able to browse WiFi at any restaurant or fast food place, grocery store, or coffee shop. Any place where you can sit, drink coffee, eat a treat or a salad will have WiFi. I don't know if the pharmacies have added WiFi yet.

Of course all the motels have WiFi.

Yesterday I saw people sitting in a parking lot between two fast food places with the car doors open using the WiFi with laptops.