Barnes and Noble Financials

[j.p.s]

Originally Posted by Sydney's Mom

I don't understand how the 4th quarter can be their slowest. I have given more kindles as gifts than anything else.

Some companies and governments use a "fiscal year" that starts on some day other than January 1st. B&N must be one of them.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

I know there are two models, but even the cheapest one is priced way above the average consumers liking. Comparably priced 32GB and 64GB means a price tag to match the iPad. In other words, $600 and $700 for WiFi; and $700+ and $800+ for cellular models.

That is your interpretation.
Valid, but not gospel.

Certainly not enough to say it isn't a consumer tablet.
Or do you think the iPad isn't a consumer tablet?
Cause if consumers aren't buying it, who is?
Certainly not the corporate buyers...

Let's wait until it ships, okay?

[j.p.s]

Originally Posted by stonetools

Its not all bad for BN.

It looks like BN reading devices may be going the way of the dodo bird. Maybe Microsoft will take over future development of the Nook Tablet. Don't see them investing in e-ink devices though.

So, M$ is going to help BN just like they have helped Nokia?

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by j.p.s

So, M$ is going to help BN just like they have helped Nokia?

MS can only help those that help themselves.
MS gave both a lifeline to keep running a couple more years: now it is up to them to take advantage of that lifeline to restructure their business.

For B&N that means putting a firewall between NewCo and OldCo, and then squeezing costs out of OldCo so it can be profitable out of the revenue it takes in.

Of the two, MS is more likely to buy Nokia outright if they can't right themselves so B&N really needs to get serious about self-help.

[covfam]

nvm deleted

[Top100EbooksRank]

http://www.barnesandnobleinc.com/pre..._earnings.html
For the Nook segment for the year ending April 2012

$933,411,000 revenue
$865,346,000 expense
$68,065,000 gross profit
$329,777,000 selling and administrative expense
$261,712,000 loss

And the price competition from Amazon hasn't even begin yet. It will once the settlement is approved.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

Certainly not enough to say it isn't a consumer tablet.
Or do you think the iPad isn't a consumer tablet?
Cause if consumers aren't buying it, who is?
Certainly not the corporate buyers...

No one else has had much success in the high end market. It's pretty much Apple's domain. Android struggled to make a dent. Then one day, Amazon strolled in and conquered the Android market with the Fire. Now we have a ballgame.

Enter Microsoft with a new mobile OS. What chance do they have against iOS and Android? They need to tap a market that neither of them have been successful at - the business sector. When Microsoft talks about Windows and Office on a mobile platform, do you really think the average consumer cares? They don't. They want a consumption device, not a productivity device.

Will Microsoft succeed? Time will tell. I tend to think these tablets will become niche products for the business sector and that consumers will reject them. Additionally, Microsoft will always be looking over its shoulders at the giant killers - Apple and Google.

Once upon a time, Microsoft was a dominate player in the mobile market. Once upon a time, Microsoft attempted to compete against the iPod touch with a device that had no appstore.

[Kali Yuga]

Originally Posted by taming

Digital Book World had a different spin on this...

Operative word being "spin."

Microsoft is investing $300 million into the Nook business. B&N just burned through $77 million in 3 months. In-store sales are down, even at college stores, and will drop further as the bump from Borders wears off.

If the DoJ settlement goes through, then Amazon can discount huge swaths of ebooks. Either B&N will have to cut prices and thus sacrifice profits to match, or they'll lose sales.

There's no way this can be interpreted as a good thing.

[fjtorres]

I wonder how much of those $329 million is "selling" and how much is "administrative expense".

Originally Posted by Kali Yuga

If the DoJ settlement goes through, then Amazon can discount huge swaths of ebooks. Either B&N will have to cut prices and thus sacrifice profits to match, or they'll lose sales.

Profits? What profits?
Do they *have* profits to sacrifice?
I'm thinking they first need to cut their administrative expense (33%?!!) category so they can actually register some profits.

Better yet, cut Nook loose.
Run an IPO to recoup some cash and cut direct ties (keeping a big stake, of course) so their B&M financials can stand on their own. (If they can; when I see "Hollywood accounting" categories like "administrative expense", my first thought is "cost-shifting".)
If their B&M operation is as solid as they make it out to be, the OldCo B&N would be instantly home free and the "money sink" Nook would be somebody else's problem.
Plus, they would get Amazon off their back.

(The Waterstone's "move to block" suggests Amazon smells blood and will be pressuring B&N on all fronts until they stop "annoying" them.)

[Fbone]

It may help if they don't release any more hardware for a couple of years. Just concentrate on software upgrades, app and website improvements.

[stonetools]

BN has to jump through a number of hoops to get back to profitability, but it can be done.
Now its clear that contrary to popular relief, that it wasn't the legacy B&M stores dragging down NOOK, but NOOK was in itself a loss center.
Whats thecase is that some aspects of its B&M operations lost money as well as made moneyand that some aspects of the NOOK business lost money and made money too.
On BN's to-do list:

1. Gradually close its unprofitable B&M stores.
2. Leverage its advantage with college stores.
3.Outsource hardware development to Microsoft.
4. Grow and diversify NOOK digital sales. Use the NOOK brand to move out from ebooks into other digital media- games, movies, etc.
5. Limit as best as possible losses in the coming price war with Amazon.
6. Develop its partnership with Microsoft ( who want to get into B&M stores and hardware sales). Have mini Microsoft Stores in BN stores, have a BN branded Microsoft tablet, etc.

None of this will be easy or some of it won't work, but BN can make it. All they need is a big chunk of luck and a big pair of balls

[vaughnmr]

Originally Posted by stonetools

BN has to jump through a number of hoops to get back to profitability, but it can be done.
Now its clear that contrary to popular relief, that it wasn't the legacy B&M stores dragging down NOOK, but NOOK was in itself a loss center.
Whats thecase is that some aspects of its B&M operations lost money as well as made moneyand that some aspects of the NOOK business lost money and made money too.
On BN's to-do list:

1. Gradually close its unprofitable B&M stores.
2. Leverage its advantage with college stores.
3.Outsource hardware development to Microsoft.
4. Grow and diversify NOOK digital sales. Use the NOOK brand to move out from ebooks into other digital media- games, movies, etc.
5. Limit as best as possible losses in the coming price war with Amazon.
6. Develop its partnership with Microsoft ( who want to get into B&M stores and hardware sales). Have mini Microsoft Stores in BN stores, have a BN branded Microsoft tablet, etc.

None of this will be easy or some of it won't work, but BN can make it. All they need is a big chunk of luck and a big pair of balls

You forgot the single most important reason B&N is not attracting, and keeping customers: customer service.

[Apache]

I have always had great Customer Service from B & N.
Apache

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by Apache

I have always had great Customer Service from B & N.
Apache

Quick, play the Lotto!

[SensualPoet]

Originally Posted by stonetools

BN has to jump through a number of hoops to get back to profitability, but it can be done.
Now its clear that contrary to popular relief, that it wasn't the legacy B&M stores dragging down NOOK, but NOOK was in itself a loss center.
Whats thecase is that some aspects of its B&M operations lost money as well as made moneyand that some aspects of the NOOK business lost money and made money too.
On BN's to-do list:

1. Gradually close its unprofitable B&M stores.
2. Leverage its advantage with college stores.
3.Outsource hardware development to Microsoft.
4. Grow and diversify NOOK digital sales. Use the NOOK brand to move out from ebooks into other digital media- games, movies, etc.
5. Limit as best as possible losses in the coming price war with Amazon.
6. Develop its partnership with Microsoft ( who want to get into B&M stores and hardware sales). Have mini Microsoft Stores in BN stores, have a BN branded Microsoft tablet, etc.

None of this will be easy or some of it won't work, but BN can make it. All they need is a big chunk of luck and a big pair of balls

1. In the analyst call, B&N committed to closing 10 more retail stores (net).

2. It is leveraging the college division (which, unlike the retail stores, did not manke any money but, unlike the Nook division, at least did lose truckloads) ... by rolling the college division into NewCo, the 82-18 B&N/MS company.

3. B&N has made no announcements about future hardware; the Windows 8 deal is strictly a deal to put a Nook app on Windows 8 devices and for NewCo to run the backend store. Interestingly, while the Nook Glow was mentioned on the call, the Nook Tablet was not. So much for that being a hit and internally admired.

4. You could grow the Nook platform beyond ebooks but it would help to operate on devices beyond the Nook Tablet. As an app, Overdrive for libraries is able to managed ebooks and media ....

5. I don't think the losses vs. Amazon are about content. On the analyst call, they praised the agency model which was generating "average" 30% of content sales as "profit" (aka commission). The losses have to do with selling hardware at a serious loss in places like Best Buy and Target (B&N keeps much less after BB gets its cut).

6. A spokesperson with Microsoft, when the deal was announced a few weeks ago, was asked this question on Bloomberg and MS stated it had no particular interest in putting its products in B&N stores.