Barnes and Noble has a series of NOOK e-readers and they have been making them since 2009. Virtually every single year they released at least one new tablet or ebook reader. The skipped their first year ever in 2020 and then in 2024, with no new products. They currently sell 2 e-readers and one tablet. Will they release something new in 2025? It looks unlikely.
Most of the e-readers that B&N currently sells are getting long in the tooth. The Nook Glowlight 4 came out in 2021 and the Nook Glowlight 4 Plus debuted in late 2023. Most of their screen tech is outdated when compared to their competition, such as Amazon and Kobo, which use Carta 1300 e-paper. One of the big advantages of the NOOK is that they have physical page-turn buttons and can buy e-books directly from the B&N online store. It is also very easy to purchase in 600 bookstores in the United States. However, B&N is only available in the US, where all of their competition are global players.
When B&N has a new NOOK that they are developing, it is quite easy to track what they are doing some a series of job postings and FCC applications. Normally, when an FCC app is filed, it is the last step a company makes before bringing it to market. No application has been filed for a number of years for an e-reader, so nothing will likely come out until the end of the year, or next year.
One of the things holding B&N back is the US tariffs levied on Taiwan. All NOOK e-readers are made by Netronix Inc, which is the same company that produces Kobo e-readers. There has been a 32% tariff on all goods from Taiwan since Trump took office, so the bookseller would have to either bite the bullet and place an order now, before the tariffs go up, or wait and see if they come down. Whatever they do, they would have to increase the cost of the NOOK. Most companies like Kobo, Pocketbook, Onyx Boox, Remarkable and others have already increased the prices of their devices.
Michael Kozlowski is the editor-in-chief at Good e-Reader and has written about audiobooks and e-readers for the past fifteen years. Newspapers and websites such as the CBC, CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and the New York Times have picked up his articles. He Lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.