Barnes & Noble’s Nook e-reader business is bound to take a big hit, as forecasts look in a very bad way, according to Reuters. The company is saying that before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization the loss for the fiscal year ending April 27th will be higher than the $262 million hit the company took in fiscal year 2012.
Barnes & Noble’s Nook hardware sales have been dropping as the general e-reader market continues to drop, while the e-book sales are growing. In spite of the growth, the damage done to the company is still big. Holiday sales of the Nook HD and HD+ tablet were underwhelming and below expectations. The slow initial rollout and increasing competition from Amazon and Apple make it very hard for Barnes & Noble to get profit. The damage will become clear when the company publishes its Q3 financial results on February 28th.
From what I know, Microsoft is investing heavily in Barnes & Noble and in case they will be going under, MS may decide to buy them alltogether. Do you see this coming? Is there any room for the Nook on a market soon to be flooded by 8 inch models rivaling the iPad Mini and Galaxy Note 8?
