Barnes and Noble has just reported their fiscal earnings for the first quarter of 2016 and things look bleak for the Nook division. Digital content sales plunged 28% as revenue from Nook devices and accessories are at an all time low. The segment’s loss more than tripled from the a year ago.
Barnes and Noble has not released a new e-ink reader since 2013 with the advent of the Nook Glowlight. The companies chief competition, Amazon and Kobo continue to release multiple devices every single year and continue to innovate.
Content sales, such as e-books have been suffering due to a Barnes and Noble website redesign and many customers are unable to purchase e-books with the Buy it Now button. Barnes and Noble also discontinued their Windows e-reading app all over Europe and is only now active in the US. In late 2014 the company also disabled the ability to download purchased e-books to your local computer for the purpose of using a 3rd party e-reading app or just to maintain proper backups.
The Nations largest bookseller is hoping to turn their fortunes around with a new CEO Ron Boire, who starts this September. He will have his work cut out for him as the Nook brand has been trading water for a number of years and has lost close to a billion dollars since 2012.
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.