Quote:
Originally Posted by tubemonkey
That says it all.
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Uh, no, it doesn't. Not by a long shot.
The article also cites:
• lack of innovation
• lack of capital, since 2008
• over-expansion
The article also fails to mention, or under-reports:
• $600 million in losses over the last 4 years
• crippling debt
• revolving door in the executive suite
• terrible real estate decisions
• handing over its online book sales to Amazon for years
• the worst economic climate since 1939
• that they didn't have the capital to roll their own ebook solution
• that their deal with Kobo, while expedient, also means less profit from ebooks
• that there is no way any ebook strategy could pull them out of this hole
It's not clear that B&N's ebook business will save them; their net income has dropped steadily over the past 3 years. They're still profitable, and will almost certainly feast on Borders' carcass for some time. But they also have a very expensive store infrastructure that is facing rapidly falling sales, and the costs and damage to their brand identity will be severe as they close store after store after store.
Even if they do survive in some form, they will be a shadow of their former self. I don't think we can really say yet that "ebooks have saved B&N."