Barnes & Noble, Inc., the world’s largest bookseller, today announced that with millions of NOOK eReading devices sold, the line has become the company’s biggest bestseller ever in its nearly 40-year history. The new NOOKcolor Reader’s Tablet, introduced just eight weeks before Christmas, is the company’s number one selling gift of the holiday season. Barnes & Noble also announced that it now sells more digital books than its large and growing physical book business on BN.com, the world’s second largest online bookstore. With its growth across device and NOOKbook™ sales over the critical holiday selling season, Barnes & Noble has successfully established itself as a leader in digital reading.
Demand for the critically acclaimed NOOKcolor remained high following the product’s introduction in late October through the holidays. Sales have continued to exceed the company’s high expectations. In addition to a great customer response, NOOKcolor has received high praise and critical acclaim from leading technology and consumer media outlets including being named “Editors’ Choice” and the “Best Android Tablet of The Year.” The company also experienced robust sales for its award-winning line of NOOK 3G and Wi-Fi devices, which feature an E Ink display and a color touchscreen for navigation.
The company also reported record holiday sales from its comprehensive two-million-title catalog, including nearly one million NOOKbooks purchased and downloaded on Christmas Day alone. Through Barnes & Noble’s eReading offerings, customers can buy and read their NOOKbooks on the widest range of platforms, including NOOKcolor, NOOK 3G, Wi-Fi®, and using NOOK apps on popular devices including iPad™, iPhone®, Android™ smartphones and more. Among the best-selling titles of the holiday season were James Patterson’s Cross Fire, Stieg Larsson’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Confession by John Grisham, and Decision Points by former U.S. President George W. Bush.
“NOOKcolor became the gift of choice over the holidays for people who love to read everything – books, magazines, newspapers, children’s books and more – in rich, beautiful color,” said William Lynch, CEO of Barnes & Noble. “The success of NOOKcolor, along with our unique ability to market NOOK devices to readers in our stores and through our strong channel partnerships with Best Buy, Walmart and Books-a-Million, resulted in the continued explosive growth of our Digital Content business and our NOOK line, our most successful products ever. We have a large online book business at BN.com that’s been recently growing. And the fact that eBook unit sales now exceed physical book sales through BN.com illustrates how quickly we’ve grown this exciting new business at Barnes & Noble.”
NOOKcolor is the first full-color touch Reader’s Tablet that integrates books, magazines, newspapers and children’s books – all in amazing, rich color in a device that weighs less than a pound. It features a stunning 7-inch VividView™ Color Touchscreen and is the most social reading device ever built. NOOKcolor is available at your local Barnes & Noble store and at http://www.NOOKcolor.com, as well as Best Buy, Walmart and Books-A-Million stores.
Source: Barnes & Noble, Inc.
Maybe physical books, but Amazon crushes them when e-books are counted. B&N is also flirting with bankruptcy.
I’m happy for them, maybe now they can find a buyer. They need to now make the NookColor a full-fledged tablet, not a sort-of tablet.
I think we’re seeing the same thing in Tablet sales that we’ve been seeing in smartphone sales. The overall market is expanding so rapidly that almost ALL participants are able to sell millions of devices.
I think Borders is not BN.
I’m willing to give the Nook color the benefit of the doubt. I think Barnes & Noble have done a good job designing the hardware – it’s certainly leaps and bounds better than the Kindle.
Some people may prefer carrying a 7″ reader on long commutes as a weight saver. If reading books is your main priority the Nook color fits the bill excellently well.
For me though I still like the spit and polish of Apple’s iBooks – nothing touches it for layout and user friendliness. But the dearth of titles in the iBook store is its Archilles heel.
What they are actually saying is that the Nook is the best selling B&N branded device of all time.
@Ballmer’s left nut
The absence of titles on the iBookstore is really embarrassing. The store opened in April, nearly 9 months ago. Apart from self-publishers and textbooks, I think Apple should already have reached an agreement with the bulk of publishers that already appear on the Amazon, BN, and Borders bookstores. This is especially true since Apple is not attempting to compel publishers to sell their books for a rock-bottom, level price point. Apple has hurt ebook pricing, not helped.
Borders was flirting with bankruptcy and rumored buyout by B & N. They have an e-reader, too.
Tested a color NOOK at B&N before Christmas and it is terrible! It is slow and confusing to use.
The Palins bought B&N last year
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Going-Rogue/Sarah-Palin/e/9780061939891
Maddow and Pelosi brought it up yesterday on Charlie Rose.
Check your sources MDN!
Bought my daughter a Nook Color for Xmas. She reads so many books and she is too young to be responsible for an iPad.
Works great and she has already read three books on it.
It is way better than the other e-reader “tablets” that are out there.
Nice of them to toot their horn. So how many were sold? Any Stats?
My niece got one for Christmas.
It is a nice little device.
We already discussed whether it had been rooted and how soon access to the google apps store was coming.
I did notice it is a hefty little device for it’s size.
I’m a geek and a Apple fanstic but I’m not a huge fan of digital books. I buy all my books in paper. Feels best. I guess digital is good for some books, like manuals, math books etc but real books won’t go away.
Remember, for Apple to succeed, it is not necessary for the competition to fail.
I can see the market for low cost e-readers. Yes they are less capable, but I would also feel less aggrieved if I had one that was lost/stolen/damaged.
Leave the high end, all powerful tablet market to Apple, and let the others have the low profit market for limited function devices.
I say it’s too little too late for B&N. They can toot their own horn all they want but Amazon is eating their lunch and they know it. Looked into the Nook but got the Kindle instead for Xmas. Absolutely love it. Looked into the iPad as well but I’ll just wait for next version. I read a lot (outdoors as well) so I wanted a dedicated reader with the largest amount of titles available and the Kindle made the most sense.
I don’t see why people are always comparing the Kindle to the iPad. They’re totally different kinds of devices. Kindle’s gain doesn’t take away from the iPad at all. One would not buy an iPad for the sole purpose of reading Charles Dickens or Stephen Hawking on the move. The Kindle is much easier on the eyes as well for extended reading sessions.
I believe Apple will do better eventually with iBooks but they really need to have more titles available. This is a case in which Apple is playing catchup to Amazon and they’ve got a long way to go. Even when I get an iPad next year I’ll probably stick with the Kindle app on it and read what I already have on the Kindle.
Okay, this is depressing. I like brick-and-mortar bookstores. If both Borders and Barnes & Noble take the corporate dirt nap, where does that leave us? Is an entire generation going to grow up without the experience of browsing books on a shelf?
——RM
what else do they sell?! ( besides books? )
@ LordRobin
> Is an entire generation going to grow up without the experience of browsing books on a shelf?
I used to browse “vinyl” records (and later CDs) at “brick-and-mortar” stores. Now I don’t, since the iTunes (Music) Store. I don’t miss the experience.
Since I started using my iPhone as a book reader (using the Kindle app), I’ve been going to the local Borders store less and less. It’s at the same mall as an Apple Store (and right next to Trader Joe’s), so I guess I’ll still drop by occasionally…
It is the so amazing iphone which you provide its a like as your pc fearturing in your pocket its a designing and musical system so amazing.
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