Two reports from Yahoo:
http://news.yahoo.com/nook-death-spi...164031668.html
Quote:
The contrast between star-crossed Nook and Amazon’s (AMZN) Kindle could not be greater. The Nook is tightly tied to North America while Amazon is just coming off a triumphant expansion period in Europe. Several UK retail chains including Carphone Warehouse and Argo recently reported surprisingly strong Christmas sales, and they actually cited Kindle as a key driver. Amazon does not break down Kindle sales volume, but its eBook sales growth during the Christmas 2012 was torrid.
The depressing thing about the Nook’s double-digit revenue decline is that it includes both hardware and eBooks. Even assuming a steep Nook device sales decline during the Christmas period, you would think that the cumulative eBook and tablet user base over the past year would have resulted in increased year-on-year content sales that would soften the revenue erosion.
The international momentum Amazon has gained over the past six months is only going to tighten the screws on Barnes & Noble in 2013. It is hard to see how the Nook’s revenue decline is going to be reversed in 2013. And it’s very hard to see why any new consumer who researches his or her purchase for even five minutes would now take the betamax risk of buying a Nook.
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http://news.yahoo.com/amazon-shares-...--finance.html
Quote:
The e-book market is a lot bigger than previously thought, and owners of Kindle e-readers and tablets are reading more e-books, Morgan Stanley's Scott Devitt, a leading Internet and e-commerce analyst, told investors in the research note.
Devitt estimated worldwide e-book unit sales of 859 million in 2012, up considerably from a previous estimate of 567 million. With almost 45 percent of the e-book market, Amazon likely sold 383 million e-books last year, compared with an earlier estimate of 252 million, the analyst added.
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And, as a capper, a (dubious?) breakdown of Kindle economics from Morgan stanley:
http://www.businessinsider.com/chart...-kindle-2013-2
Quote:
Amazon reveals almost nothing about its sales or profits, so we have to rely on the estimates of analysts. Scott Devitt at Morgan Stanley did his best to break it down, and he believes the Kindle business is highly profitable for Amazon.
He believes 34 percent of Amazon's consolidated segment operating income is coming from the Kindle. In this chart, we break down where the money comes from. While Amazon loses money on each piece of hardware it sells, it makes money from advertising and digital media.
Amazon's annual Kindle profit was $565 million last year, according to Devitt, so we're not talking about an Apple-esque performance. He sees it jumping to $620 million this year.
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I fear something really bad is coming...