Charting Nook's Decline

[DuckieTigger]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

Nook's lost ebook sales have to be going *somewhere* and they're not all going to Apple or Amazon. Kobo is a possibility but their US visibility is no higher than before, whereas Google is starting to make ripples of relevance so it may be that putting the Play store on Nook tablets is migrating not only app sales to Google, but also ebook sales. (Tough game, huh?)

Do the lost sales have to go somewhere? Maybe it is possible that ex Nook readers simply slowed down reading? Those lost interest in reading simply disappear in the statistics. Sure some sales went to a different ebook supplier, but many may have went to a different kind of entertainment or disappeard completely.

[kenmac999]

I am still using a Nook touchpad with glowlight but I purchase a third of my ebooks from B&N. I spread the other two thirds between Books-A-Million, O'Reily's and Ebooks. I also get half the ebooks I read through my local public library since Adobe Digital Editions allows me to read the overdrive epub formats and send them to my nook. I have to admit the new Samsung Tab4 Nook that B&N has started to offer has me interested as a replacement for my aging glowlight

I hope B&N stays in the fight since I personally do not like the kindle's restrictions

[LSM]

It's a shame that without Nook, the only true eink device in US is Kindle. Although I stopped buying ebooks from B&N some time ago, I stocked up on 6 GlowLights (with sim card port) when they went on sale, so I can use a Nook indefinitely, while getting my content from Amazon (converted by calibre) and public library

[DuckieTigger]

Originally Posted by kenmac999

I hope B&N stays in the fight since I personally do not like the kindle's restrictions

Originally Posted by LSM

It's a shame that without Nook, the only true eink device in US is Kindle. Although I stopped buying ebooks from B&N some time ago, I stocked up on 6 GlowLights (with sim card port) when they went on sale, so I can use a Nook indefinitely, while getting my content from Amazon (converted by calibre) and public library

That both is the problem with Nooks more open hardware? It seems the threshold of sideloading a Kindle is higher than on a Nook. Technically, of course, it is the same to go Kindle ebook to epub to Nook than it is the other way around. The restrictions on eink Kindles are a little bit overrated. Removeable sd card mostly caters to those that want to sideload non-DRM content. What good is removable storage if you can't use it on a different device? There is alternatives (even in eink) that offer removeable storage if that is important to you - for Amazon content. OTOH, it is impossible for B&N to release a Nook that only allows B&N books - once you open up your gates and let others in, it is hard to close them again.

[Anthem]

Originally Posted by LSM

It's a shame that without Nook, the only true eink device in US is Kindle. Although I stopped buying ebooks from B&N some time ago, I stocked up on 6 GlowLights (with sim card port) when they went on sale, so I can use a Nook indefinitely, while getting my content from Amazon (converted by calibre) and public library

Eventually, the batteries will refuse anything but the most piddly of charges which will severely limit your ability to use them. But that is a couple of years off, to be fair.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by DuckieTigger

Do the lost sales have to go somewhere? Maybe it is possible that ex Nook readers simply slowed down reading? Those lost interest in reading simply disappear in the statistics. Sure some sales went to a different ebook supplier, but many may have went to a different kind of entertainment or disappeard completely.

It is possible but the ebook market is still growing substantially.
Plus Nook's early success was built off eink devices and avid readers. Not exactly the kind of people one would expect to stop reading. Their customer base wasn't built off tablets and cellphones only, like Apple and Google.

Nook themselves pointed out their dependence on eink reader customers last year to explain why they were staying in the hardware business. So it is more likely their hardware customers are buying from somebody else (their eink readers are compatible with Kobo and Google, after all).

[conan50]

I'm not seeing any real advantages for Google to buy a sinking ship as they already have a book store within Play, and and everywhere Android goes, Google Books goes, so their future looks quite good without nook hanging around their neck. The only use case I can see is if one or several major book publishers wanted it to offset Amazon's influence by buying nook, but they have not shown a great deal of foresight about anything tech related, so it is not likely to happen.
It looks like the brick and mortar part of B&N will survive selling toys and other things besides books. But I would not bet on the ebook nook side surviving. They already lost the war to Amazon. It's just a matter of salvage or not at this point.

[Barcey]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

...and who is going to throw big money at a damaged brand hemorrhaging customers and market share?

While the ebook business has doubled in the last two years or so, Nook revenues have dropped 80%, their peak ebook market share of 26% is down to maybe 8%, and the promised revamp of their online storefront, due last spring, is MIA.

And, this last week word has filtered out of missed (supplier) payments to some of their indie authors. Very probably a glitch but a disquieting one. Some of the authors are responding by pulling their titles and going Amazon exclusive, at least temporarily.

So, again, who is going to buy into that track record?

B&N may not want to sell low, but who is going to pay what they think it's worth?

It looks like B&N paid $15.7 million for Fictionwise in 2009. Maybe the original owners of Finctionwise will buy the Nook business for $5.7 million.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by Barcey

It looks like B&N paid $15.7 million for Fictionwise in 2009. Maybe the original owners of Finctionwise will buy the Nook business for $5.7 million.

Don't raise my hopes.

[fjtorres]

...plus, it would be an overpay...

[BearMountainBooks]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

...and who is going to throw big money at a damaged brand hemorrhaging customers and market share?

While the ebook business has doubled in the last two years or so, Nook revenues have dropped 80%, their peak ebook market share of 26% is down to maybe 8%, and the promised revamp of their online storefront, due last spring, is MIA.

And, this last week word has filtered out of missed (supplier) payments to some of their indie authors. Very probably a glitch but a disquieting one. Some of the authors are responding by pulling their titles and going Amazon exclusive, at least temporarily.

So, again, who is going to buy into that track record?

B&N may not want to sell low, but who is going to pay what they think it's worth?

It's more likely a glitch. They have had problems with their platform since the beginning. They have improved their response/customer support when there is a problem, but I can tell you the last ticket I submitted (for a title that was supposed to go live and didn't) they apparently didn't even SEE the first ticket until AFTER a second ticket was handled a week later. They aren't very organized.

I'm an associate for them as well and they are doing a big sale/push on the e-reader this weekend. I think it's erm. 20 dollars off--edited: 30 dollars instant rebate. With a bunch of free stuff thrown in. It's actually a decent sale. I get their "sale" announcements all the time and most of them are not worth posting. They tend to put things on sale that are not interesting to me AT ALL and I don't think my blog readers will find them interesting. The few I have posted have gotten zero to 3 clicks. Three clicks is like a stray swipe of the mouse.

I used to sell quite well on Nook, second to Amazon. Probably a year or so ago, sales began to drop. They have never recovered. It's not a huge market for me. They don't allow pre-orders and miss on some of the other things that are helpful for indie writers. A lot of us are quite active in promoting titles and retailers...but when B&N runs behind in features, they are much harder to promote and less popular with readers.

Kobo's coupons are pure genius. They have pre-order available for us and seem to be doing everything possible to be competitive with Amazon.