Barnes & Noble Inc will develop a tablet with Samsung Electronics Co Ltd as it tries to revive its money-losing Nook digital business.<\/p>\n
The tablets will combine Samsung’s hardware with Nook’s software, allowing Barnes & Noble to focus on providing digital reading technology and content without spending on developing hardware.<\/p>\n
Barnes & Noble said last year that it would stop producing Nook tablets until it found a partner, after losing hundreds of millions of dollars trying to compete with Amazon.com Inc, Apple Inc and Google Inc.<\/p>\n
“The deal signals that Barnes & Noble is repositioning Nook as a content-centric, rather than device-centric, business,” Maxim Group analysts wrote in a note.<\/p>\n
Nook was originally launched as an e-reader along the lines of Amazon’s Kindle, but failed to take off.<\/p>\n
A 7-inch version of the Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 Nook tablet is slated for a U.S. launch in early August. The devices will be sold at Barnes & Noble’s nearly 700 stores and on its website, bn.com.<\/p>\n
“(This deal) is as good as it gets for Barnes & Noble,” Janney Capital Markets analyst David Strasser wrote in a note.<\/p>\n
The deal will drive cutting-edge design and help the bookseller slash losses at its Nook division, while drastically reducing manufacturing expenses over the next two years and adding to revenue growth, he said.<\/p>\n
The agreement offers access to Barnes & Noble’s digital collection of more than 3 million books, magazines and newspapers, the companies said in a statement.<\/p>\n
“A partnership with Samsung raises the question, is Samsung interested in making further investments in Barnes & Noble as they look to expand their retail footprint in an effort to compete with Apple,” Maxim Group analysts said.<\/p>\n
They added that a store-in-store strategy between the companies was a possibility, similar to the arrangement Samsung has with Best Buy Co Inc.<\/p>\n
Barnes & Noble has agreed to buy 1 million tablets in the first year after launch. This period will be extended to 15 months if the devices do not meet sales targets, the company said in a filing.<\/p>\n
The company said on Thursday that it would continue to offer its Nook GlowLight e-book reader, launched in October.<\/p>\n
Barnes & Noble shares rose as much as 4 percent to $19.67 on the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday.<\/p>\n
Samsung Galaxy S5 camera issue \u201cvery limited\u201d<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Samsung Galaxy S5 to outsell the S4: executive<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Apple, Samsung under pressure in smartphone arena<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n