Barnes and Noble"s Nook tablet strategy is taking yet another turn, as the bookseller tries to fight off Amazon in the cheap eBook-themed tablet business. Today the company announced that, in the future, its Nook color tablets will be made by as yet unamed third party manufacturers.
In a press release, Barnes and Noble stated that the inventory of their current Nook HD and Nook HD+ tablets, shown above, will still be sold "at amazing prices through the holiday." Currently the Nook HD can be bought for $129 while the Nook HD+ is priced at $149. There"s no word on when the new third party Nook tablets will be released. Barnes and Noble will still design and make its Simple Touch and Glowlight eReaders.
The same press release states that the Nook business as a whole brought in $108 million in revenue for the last fiscal quarter and $776 million for the full fiscal year, down a whopping 34 percent for the quarter and 16.8 percent for the year. Microsoft has a $300 million investment in Nook Media, the subsidiary of Barnes and Noble that handles the Nook tablet business. There have been rumors that Microsoft wants to acquire all of Nook Media from the bookseller but so far, those rumors have proven to be unfounded.
Source: Barnes and Noble | Image via Barnes and Noble