Barnes & Noble released their FY2010 financial reports today. Income is up (good), they posted a small loss (not so good), and here’s the kicker:
“In fact, in just a brief 12 months since we launched the Barnes and Noble ebookstore, our share of the digital market already exceeds our share of the retail book market,” said William Lynch, chief executive officer of Barnes & Noble, Inc.
I’m not surprised. When it comes to paper, B&N is getting their buts handed to them by internet retailers like Amazon. B&N can’t cut prices or increase in-store selection to match Amazon. But when it comes to ebooks, B&N is on a level playing field.
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Nook books are going from strength to strength. I hope they go international very soon.
Nook has done nicely for B&N.
But consider that their Dec market share of 27% is the same of last June.
Going international isn’t an expression of strength; it is an expression of *need*.
B&N’s strategy was to build up in the US as much as possible.
“As much as possible” just arrived.
The Nook STR shortfall is one sign.
Flat market share is another.
They just hit the wall.
Amazon has hit the same wall despite selling millions of Fires. Their ebook share has hovered in the 55-60% range all last year.
Exactly.
The signs are the US market is plateau-ing.
The difference is Amazon has been selling Kindles internationally for years and setting up local ebookstores since 2009. They didn’t wait until the home market peaked to go looking for growth.
Between them and Kobo there may not be much of an international market for Nook to tap into.
So, again, Nook going international *now* is no sign of strength.