Barnes & Noble To Take On Amazon With A New 8GB Nook Tablet

[BarryV]

Barnes & Noble To Take On Amazon With A New 8GB Nook Tablet

http://techcrunch.com/2012/02/20/barnes-noble-to-take-on-amazon-with-a-new-8gb-nook-tablet/

[Nom-de-Nook]

reducing the on board memory of the NT won't make it $50 less expensive to make so if BN takes it down to $199 they will be making even less on the 8gb device than the 16gb.  They would then have to offer the NC for much less or moth ball it.  An 8gb device seems to throw water on the idea BN will have a video and music store anytime soon as well (unless they let you store that content on the SD card which is doubtful)

If this is the "new" device BN was rumored to have coming, all I can say is "stupid"

[flyingtoastr Inspired Wordsmith]

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Nom-de-Nook wrote:

If this is the "new" device BN was rumored to have coming, all I can say is "stupid"

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It isn't.

[TnTexas]

So they're supposedly releasing a new Tablet with half the memory of the one they released less than six months ago? I agree with Nom, that would be stupid. I suspect FT is correct, though. Someone's just trying to stir things up.

[seacitylady]

Don't think tth the would put them into competition with the Fire which has an enormous lead. It will only cannibalize Nook Color sales unless they drop the price of the NC, Worst thing possible is to get into a price war with Amazon. It's just not sustainable.The manufacturing cost of the fFire is only a few dollars less then the sale proce. It is essentially a subsidized device & a portal to all things Amazon. They can probably even justify lowering the $199 more as long as they are able to demonstrate it produces overall Amazon sales. If true this is a bad move. think they would be a lot smarter developing something specific to the educational market which is an area likely to grow & possibly future customers in a younger demographic.

[Omnigeek]

This "article" makes very little sense.  There's already an 8 GB version of the Nook Tablet available for $199, it's called the Nook Color.  This sounds like it was written by the same guys who were so sure Apple was going to unveil an iPhone 5 last fall.

[The_Walrus_43]

There will be 3 devices...

Nook Color @ $149...

Nook Tablet 8GB @ $199...

Nook Tablet 16GB @ $249...

[orb9220]

Yep same story at Dvice and commented there and this one! As just makes no sense and leaves me scratching my head leaving me in "Awe in Ignorance" thoughts.

.

[flyingtoastr Inspired Wordsmith]

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orb9220 wrote:

Yep same story at Dvice and commented there and this one! As just makes no sense and leaves me scratching my head leaving me in "Awe in Ignorance" thoughts.

.

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Why does it make no sense?

BN prices this at the same point as a KF - yet the device beats the Fire handily in a number of areas (RAM, SD card slot, EPUB support, etc.). Amazon is forced to either cede BN the title of "best value tablet" or drop the price of the KF further, hurting their already depressed bottom line.

It's actually quite smart marketing.

[orb9220]

Doesn't the Nook Color already beat the KF in those area's?

I guess because the Nook Color is a tablet as far as I'm concerned and little it cannot do that the tablet can. And under CM7 even more useful than all the other as stock devices.

.

[Dranakin]

I really hope they sell this at B&N stores, and not just Walmart.

[Nom-de-Nook]

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flyingtoastr wrote:

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orb9220 wrote:

Yep same story at Dvice and commented there and this one! As just makes no sense and leaves me scratching my head leaving me in "Awe in Ignorance" thoughts.

.

---

Why does it make no sense?

BN prices this at the same point as a KF - yet the device beats the Fire handily in a number of areas (RAM, SD card slot, EPUB support, etc.). Amazon is forced to either cede BN the title of "best value tablet" or drop the price of the KF further, hurting their already depressed bottom line.

It's actually quite smart marketing.

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It is dumb because Amazon can lose money longer than BN can lose money and still stay around.  And Amazon doesn't have to drop the price of the Fire, they can simply give Video on Demand free for 6 mos and the press at least will still call it the "best value tablet".

[doncr]

I think this move is less about Amazon and more about the new general-use tablets that will be showing up later this year like this one.

[Nom-de-Nook]

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doncr wrote:

I think this move is less about Amazon and more about the new general-use tablets that will be showing up later this year like this one.

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This would be an even weaker response to those general tabs than it is to the Fire.  The Fire, NT, NC would need to price under $150 to compete with THAT (assuming it really prices at $249, if it ever gets produced).

BN should have dropped the current NT by $20 and started selling a 32gb version for $249.  It makes no sense to take out only 8gb and drop the price by $50.  Memory is cheap so they aren't really reducing the manufacturing cost much but the price drop is large

[doncr]

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Nom-de-Nook wrote:

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doncr wrote:

I think this move is less about Amazon and more about the new general-use tablets that will be showing up later this year like this one.

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This would be an even weaker response to those general tabs than it is to the Fire.  The Fire, NT, NC would need to price under $150 to compete with THAT (assuming it really prices at $249, if it ever gets produced).

BN should have dropped the current NT by $20 and started selling a 32gb version for $249.  It makes no sense to take out only 8gb and drop the price by $50.  Memory is cheap so they aren't really reducing the manufacturing cost much but the price drop is large

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Oh, I didn't say it was a good business move.  The race to the bottom never is.  I don't think they should even be in the hardware business since they are a content reseller.  They should be developing a better content experience and working with content creators/owners to increase the value to the average eBook customer.  

For example, why is it that I can't read the enhanced magazines and books on anything but the NC/NT devices?  Don't they want to sell more of this content?  Why don't they have an enhanced eMag/Book reader for Android tablets, phones, and PCs?

I think they have an earnings report tomorrow AM and it's going to be interesting to see how things are shaping up at old BKS.

[BeckyWC]

I don't understand this either especially since it's rumored that Amazon is coming out with a 10" Fire sometime in the 2nd quarter.  

http://goodereader.com/blog/tablet-slates/foxconn-electronics-gets-the-order-to-produce-10-inch-kind...

[TelSC]

I agree it looks stupid. Let's see, you've got the Nook Color that acts very well as a tablet with a little work. You come out with a tablet that acts like a tablet for short while, then it's fixed to act like the color, but it can be fixed with some work to act like a tablet.Now, they come out with another tablet, that's not really a tablet.

Yea, it's stupid but then again, it is Barnes and Noble, so we're shouldn't expect much in the thinking department.

[flyingtoastr Inspired Wordsmith]

E: Not worth it.

[robotecture]

Maybe this is a one two combo... Repricing and the 8 gb 1 gb ram NT at $199 to the kindle fire gut is just a flurry of short punches before the big uppercut to the head: a new 10" nook study platform released in tandem...

[robotecture]

Flurry of rumors to keep the competition confused before tha big cross punch!