[fjtorres]

I don't think it's the hardware or the software.
It's their credibility with customers. And the lack of same.

The missteps of their past coming back to haunt them: by making their readers adobe compatible they allowed their customer base to switch to Kobo once the possibility of shutdown started scaring them off. And once the loss of PC downloads started to bite. Constant quarterly reports of declining ebook sales don't help. Neither do the jacked up BPH prices, the steady defections of Indie publishers, and the whole "ebooks fad" and "screen fatigue" narratives from the publishing establishment.

B&N has very few buttons to push to bring back customers because they can't do sales, they can't do rebates, they have essentially zero exclusives, and their catalog size is at least 25% smaller than Kindle.

At this point all they can hope for is to limit further defections and try to grow with the market but it's no longer 2011 and the booming growth phase of the ebook sector is over. Market growth will be slow and steady because existing ebook shoppers are already committed to one platform or another, whether it be Kobo, Apple, Google, or Kindle. Any new customers will come from the much smaller pool of newcomers getting started with ebooks. And those newcomers will feel a strong draw to Kindle and/or Kindle unlimited. That will be a non-trivial inducement.

Making the hardware better, making the software better, better customer service; all that only matters to those already inclined to stick with Nook. Somebody starting fresh will find the same benefits at Kobo or with a generic adobe reader. Or, more likely, with Kindle,along with "safety in numbers"...

It is way too late for anything but treading water.
And even that will be a challenge. Death spirals are almost impossible to reverse.

Seriously: what argument can get an educated consumer to say "I prefer Nook to Kobo or Apple or even Google?"