Barnes and Noble e-readers have seen unprecedented demand in the UK with the recent price drop. Blackwell’s, Sainsburys, Asda, and Foyles shops are all reporting that the Nook Simple Touch is sold out in almost all retail locations. This is one of the first times in the entire history of Barnes and Noble that the company has seen such elevated levels of demand. Even the main B&N website is showing the e-reader as “Sold Out.”
The main reason the Nook Simple Touch is seeing critical success is due to the dramatic price drop. Last week, Barnes & Noble slashed the price of its original Nook Model from £79 to £29 in a bid to win market share in the UK. Not only has the discounted Simple Touch seen success with the price drop, but the brand name is at record levels of visibly. This is primarily attributed to the sponsorship of the London Evening Standard’s Get London Reading campaign, and B&N also donated 1,000 e-readers to the national literacy charity Beanstalk.
A Barnes & Noble spokesperson said, “Since B&N announced the reduced price of the Nook Simple Touch to support the Get London Reading literacy campaign, and make reading more affordable in the UK, there has been an unprecedented number of orders. Some retailers are temporarily out of stock due to high demand. For customers who want a Nook e-reader immediately, Nook Simple Touch is in stock at major retailers across the UK and the Nook Simple Touch GlowLight is available now as well at £69.00, reduced from £109.”
There is a ton of speculation in the industry right now on whether Barnes and Noble may consider dropping its Android tablet division at the end of the current fiscal year. The addition of Google Play has been a compelling reason for people to switch to the Nook brand, because of previously unavailable apps. UK residents can now download the BBC iPlayer, BBC Sport, and LoveFilm.
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.
