Costly Kindle fight hurting Barnes & Noble
(Reuters) - Barnes & Noble Inc's expensive investments to keep its Nook e-reader competitive with Amazon's Kindle led to an unexpected quarterly loss for the bookseller, sending its shares down as much as 24 percent on Thursday.
The No. 1 U.S. bookstore chain, which has bet its future on the Nook as book sales shrivel, said sales from the Nook group of devices, including content like e-books, rose 85 percent to $220 million in its fiscal second quarter ended October 29.
But updating the device and promoting it through an aggressive national television and newspaper advertising campaign weighed on results and will continue to do so, the company said.
"Barnes & Noble really has to invest more than it previously expected to keep up with Kindle," Morningstar analyst Peter Wahlstrom said.
Barnes & Noble, which launched a tablet version of Nook last month, said it "plans to invest more heavily" on promoting the device to win new customers.
The retailer now expects full-year earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization to come in at the lower end of its previous forecast of $210 million to $250 million.
The company's shares were down $3.06, or 17.5 percent, at $14.38 in midday trading after falling as low as $13.28 earlier in the day.
S&P Capital IQ analyst Michael Souers lowered his recommendation the shares to "sell" from "hold."
Between the launch of the Nook Tablet on November 7 and the close of markets on Wednesday, the shares rose 50 percent on the belief that Barnes & Noble was keeping pace with Amazon.com Inc in the e-reader and lower-cost tablet wars.
The Nook Tablet has been well reviewed and well received. That device and other versions of the Nook helped lift sales at Barnes & Noble superstores open at least 15 months by 10.9 percent over the U.S. Thanksgiving weekend, the busiest of the year for shopping.
TOUGH FIGHT AGAINST AMAZON
Barnes & Noble, which launched the first version of the Nook just two years ago, is second only to Amazon in the e-books market. It claims to have 27 percent of the market.
But for all its quick success, Barnes & Noble is up against a formidable, deep-pocketed rival whose strategy often entails undercutting competitors on price. In September, when Amazon launched its Kindle Fire tablet, it also slashed prices on other Kindles.
Kindle Trade-In Available Now For Those Hoping To Upgrade
As Kindle updates have happened over the years, one of the biggest customer complaints has been that Amazon has completely ignored the existing customers who might want to upgrade to the newest device possible. This was especially an issue moving from the first generation of the Kindle to the second generation, since it was such an immense improvement and change in aesthetic. Up until recently, however, the only recourse for early adopters and other existing customers was to either be happy with what you already have or pay full price for the next generation. At this time, though, if you are a Kindle owner who would like to trade in their existing eReader for credit toward a new one, there is finally an option!
It seems that pretty much anything you have on hand is eligible. Even first generation Kindles will get you up to $12 depending on condition. That might not be much compared to the initial purchase price, but using a 4 year old eReader to get 15% off a new Kindle 4 isn’t a bad deal at all, considering all the improvements that have taken place. Surprisingly, even non-Kindles are eligible. At this time, a non-touchscreen Kobo or Sony Reader Pocket will get you around $20. You’ll find any number of competing products to be worth some money if you are interested in switching to the Kindle, or just want some Amazon credit in general (Nook excluded at the moment).
As one cautionary note, be aware that when trading in your eReader you are unlikely to get the full “up to $__” value for your device as this is for a completely unworn product with its original packaging intact. I doubt many people have hung on to their old boxes on the off chance they might come in handy someday. The difference between the “Like New” price listed and a “Good” product is generally between $1 and $15, proportional to the value of the device.
I can see this being a valuable move for Amazon in a couple different ways. Obviously it spurs adoption of new devices. The Kindle Fire is doing great, of course, but more is always better. Also, the Kindle Touch is probably where Amazon wants focus at this time as far as eReaders go, so it makes sense to provide an easy way to upgrade. No matter what device is chosen, there is a good chance that it will be something that Amazon can present ads on, increasing the revenue stream along those lines going forward. There is also a high probability that, since the Kindle 4 and Kindle Touch are the newer, shiner eReaders at the moment, this will mean fewer devices with unlimited 3G access floating around. While they have not gotten rid of that feature for new Kindle Keyboard purchases, the restriction on the new device makes it clear that there is an interest in cutting down those ongoing expenses.
Regardless of the motivation for offering the deals, though, this should help some people who want to get their hands on a new Kindle to do so. It might not be a lot of the price being offset in some cases, but everything makes a difference in the end.
Here is the link to the Trade-in department of Amazon where you can choose any stuff for trade-in transactions. In the “Find the Items You’d Like to Trade In” select “Electronics” category from the drop-down menu and type Kindle in “Search by title or keyword(s)” box. After clicking the “Go” button you will see the options for trade-in transactions.
Read more: http://blogkindle.com/#ixzz1bfTCLfsa
Amazon.fr launched the first ever French language version of the Kindle October 7th. Amazon’s (NASDAQ: AMZN) customers in France will have access to 35,000 e-books in French. This includes bestsellers, graphic novels, and classics.
In addition to the titles offered in French, customers will have access to the 800,000+ Amazon Kindle e-book collection in English and other languages.
Amazon.fr is taking pre-orders for the French language Kindle today at www.amazon.fr/kindle.
According to Amazon’s latest press release, there is a huge variety of books by bestselling French authors, as well as popular French magazines and newspapers.
“The French Kindle Store’s vast selection of content includes popular titles from best-selling authors such as Katherine Pancol, Delphine de Vigan, Harlan Coben, Stéphane Hessel, Haruki Murakami, Françoise Bourdin and Michel Houellebecq in a wide range of categories. Customers will also find the largest selection of popular graphic novels available for download including titles from The Largo Winch Series of Francq and Van Hamme, Julia and Roem from Bilal and Walking Dead. Customers can also find top French newspapers and magazines such as Le Monde, Les Echos, Le Figaro, Libération andAujourd’hui en France/Le Parisien available for single purchase or subscription. Independent authors and publishers can also now use Kindle Direct Publishing to make their books available in Amazon.fr’s Kindle Store.”
-Amazon French Kindle Store Press Release
Like it’s internationally bestselling English language counterpart, The French language version of the Kindle is lightweight, and super inexpensive at only 99€. It has apps available on a variety of PC, tablet and smartphone platforms. It also has built in Wi-Fi and lasts for up to one month on a single charge. Not to mention the crisp, clear e-ink display and font size adjustments.
So, it looks like the Kindle is taking off in Europe with a presence in the UK, Spain, Germany, and now France. What an exciting time for e-readers on the international front, and a giant step towards global literacy.
