Barnes & Noble sees large loss thanks to e-book business expansion

Barnes & Noble has reported a large fourth quarter loss this week, citing its expensive push into the e-book and e-reader markets.

Additionally, the company forecasted lower future earnings, as it keeps expanding into aforementioned markets.

For the fourth quarter ended May, the company lost $32 million, compared with a $3 million loss in the same period last year.

Revenue, however, rose to $1.32 billion from $1.1 billion, beating analyst expectations.

The book company recently slashed the price of the Nook Android e-reader from $260 to $200, and introduced a 3G-stripped Wi-Fi only version for $150.

B&N's move prompted Amazon to drop the price of their market leading Kindle to $190.

Written by: Andre Yoskowitz @ 29 Jun 2010 13:15

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7 comments

hikaricor

ha ha

29.6.2010 17:32 #1

aldan

i wonder,can you take one of those ebooks to bed and lay there and read comfortably?

29.6.2010 20:07 #2

Ryoohki

Originally posted by aldan: i wonder,can you take one of those ebooks to bed and lay there and read comfortably? i sincerely doubt it. and also if you fell asleep and rolled over on it you probably now have a 200$ paperweight because you broke the damn screen.

29.6.2010 22:21 #3

KillerBug

Yes, you can read it in bed so long as there is enough light to read a normal book. The screens on ereader devices are extremely fragile.

29.6.2010 22:54 #4

aldan

ive always loved reading and read about 60-80 pages an hour on average.somehow i dont think this will feel the same.

30.6.2010 02:51 #5

Chroma45

Originally posted by aldan: ive always loved reading and read about 60-80 pages an hour on average.somehow i dont think this will feel the same. Go to your local big box and try one, I think you'll be surprised on how good they are. Not only that but you can have hundreds of books in one little device.

1.7.2010 10:51 #6

jolo

I love ebooks and have been reading them for years. I still do on my ole Palm Tungsten T/3. Of course I also can write a book on my Palm as well. Not only books but hundreds of items from subscribed magazine and news services from around the world. It is great stuff, immediate, convenient, can be carried in a shirt pocket, I can control the fonts, NO media or exceedingly expensive publishing and distribution costs.
As someone who underlines a lot and likes to make comments and save them for later, using an ebook is wonderful.
The concept of ebooks is not a new one at all.
I think the Issue with Barnes and Noble is the greed and stupidity of their executive management. There is NOTHING new with their unit and it is WAY, WAY too expensive.
Truth is, There is no reason that any Ebook Reader should cost more than $100. These eReaders are really old technically, that strips out functionality.

When some functionality is added and especially, when the costs get sane as well as ebook users agree on some open source ebook formats, then they will be a lot more usable.

When I think of the waste of energy in general, paper, plus the delay for changes in editions and the current cost (and ripoffs and school/teacher kickbacks) of textbooks, it would be great.

On my 480 x 360 screen on my ole Palm Tungsten T/3, I usually use a FREE, evolved reader called eREADER, which ironically Barnes and Noble just bought the rights to about a year ago.

The current new ebook devices lack any imagination, have evolved FAR backwards as far as technology goes, are insanely expensive and lack any expandability.

Irony

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2.7.2010 00:35 #7

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