Barnes & Noble is rolling out two new versions of its Nook tablet computer, adding to competition between itself, Amazon and Apple leading up to the vital Christmas sales period.
Barnes & Noble is the largest traditional US bookseller.
In its most recent fiscal quarter, sales of digital content surged 46%, but revenue from devices dropped partly due to lower prices. Nook prices in the May-July period were 23% lower than a year ago.
The company is seeking to offset tough competition from online retailers such as Amazon.com, as consumers increasingly move away from traditional books and DVDs to electronic books and streaming video.
Tablets are once again expected to be hot items this Christmas. The new Nooks come on the heels of Amazon.com's announcement earlier this month that it will offer four new varieties of its Kindle, including a high definition version of its Kindle Fire tablet with an 8.9-inch screen, which starts at $299. That compares with Apple Inc.'s iPad with a 9.7-inch diagonal screen and $499 starting price.
Apple's iPad is the most popular tablet, and that is not expected to change. Seven out of every 10 tablets sold in the second quarter were iPads, according to IHS iSuppli. Meanwhile Amazon.com has a 4.2% share of the tablet market, while Barnes & Noble has a 1.9% share, according to iSuppli.
Even so, the category is growing rapidly. An estimated 112.5 million Americans, one-third of U.S. adults, are expected to have tablets by 2016, according to Forrester Research.
And tablet makers are jockeying to gain share on Apple. On specs alone, the new Nook presents a tough choice for consumers seeking a cheap option to the iPad this holiday, analysts say. The 7-inch Nook HD is slightly lighter and narrower, with a sharper display than the similarly priced 7-inch Kindle Fire.
In an attempt to measure up, Barnes & Noble is launching a video service this autumn that lets users buy and watch movies and TV shows on their mobile devices and televisions.
