Summer of 2010 became the season of the ereader wars. In April, 2010, the Barnes and Noble Nook beat the Amazon Kindle in sales for the first time, which may have played a part in Amazon's dramatic price drop in June 2010. After that, the ereader wars were fought through battles of prices, features, and availability. Summer 2011 already has hints of new levels of competition.
Summer 2011 eBook Reader News
Amazon started shipping the lower-priced Kindle with Special Offers in May of 2011, and Barnes and Noble recently updated their Android-based Nook Color so that users can take advantage of the tablet features of the device. In fact, the company has deftly re-branded the device as a tablet ereader instead of an ereader based on a tablet. At some point in 2011, Amazon has promised Kindle users the ability to check out library books through OverDrive, which is one of the Nook's selling points. There is no hint of when Kindle 4 might be released, but Barnes and Noble is planning to offer a new Nook on May 24.
Nathan Olivarez-Giles of The Los Angeles Times reported that Barnes and Noble had made an intriguing comment in their corporate regulatory filing in his May 5, 2011 article, "Barnes & Noble to announce new eReader on May 24." The Times quotes the filing as saying, "In a meeting with investor analysts on May 4, 2011, Barnes & Noble, Inc. ... indicated it expects to make an announcement on May 24, 2011 regarding the launch of a new eReader device."
What Is Barnes and Noble Planning with the New eReader Device?
Barnes and Noble has not given any information about the new ebook reader, and they have not stated it will be in the Nook family. However, there are a few gaps in the Nook line that could be filled with a new ereader.
Barnes and Noble has invested in etextbooks for college students. In 2010, students could buy or rent etextbooks from Barnes and Noble, but despite the name of the NOOKStudy program, the etextbooks could only be read online. Barnes and Noble does not have an ereader with a large screen to compete with the Amazon Kindle DX or the Apple iPad. The Nook 2 or Nook Color 2 could be a larger ereader that could be used with NOOKStudy.
A second possibility is that the NookColor will get 3G access. On January 24, 2011, Electronista speculated that "Barnes & Noble May Axe Nook 3G Due to Lack of Demand." Electronista's staff writer pointed out that the Nook 3G was priced between the Nook Color, which has more features, and the Nook Wi-Fi, which has the same ebook reading features of a Nook 3G for less money, with the exception being the 3G internet connection. The article noted that, "Barnes & Noble is commonly expected to ship a new Nook with an E Ink Pearl screen that could replace the 3G model," which could be what debuts on May 24, 2011.
Amazon uses E Ink Pearl on the Kindle 3 and the Kindle DX, so it could be possible that Barnes and Noble plans to release an E Ink Pearl or E Ink Triton device. Hopefully there will be a slimmer Nook with some feature improvements, a 3G Nook Color that behaves like a tablet, or a larger Nook Color to compete with the iPad for magazines and the Kindle DX for ebooks.
Sources
- Barnes and Noble's brief sales jump over the Amazon Kindle was reported by John Biggs for Crunchgear.com in "Nook passes Kindle sales in March". The article was published by Crunchgear on April 26, 2010.
- Nathan Olivarez-Giles wrote "Barnes & Noble to announce new eReader on May 24" for the The Los Angeles Times on May 5, 2011.
- Electronista staff wrote "Barnes & Noble May Axe Nook 3G Due to Lack of Demand" for Electronista.com on January 24, 2011.
Alex Sharp - Alex Sharp is a teacher who has been keeping Suite101 readers up to date with the latest in audio- and e-book gadgetry since 2008.
