Barnes and Noble said today that their planned collaboration with Microsoft to spin off its Nook tablet and eReader business is moving forward, even as sales of the Nook tablet took a hit in the bookseller's latest fiscal quarter.
In a press release today, Barnes and Noble said that for the quarter that ended on April 28, the Nook division generated $164 million in revenue, down 11 percent from the same period a year ago. While sales of digital content for books, magazines and apps were higher, they were offset by lower sales of the Nook hardware.
Barnes and Noble said today that the Nook device sales were down " ... due to higher third-party channel partner returns, lower selling volume and lower average selling prices."
In April Barnes and Noble announced plans to spin-off the Nook business, along with its College division, into a separate company with the working name NewCo. The spin-off will be helped with a $300 million investment stake from Microsoft.
In today's press release, Barnes and Noble said, "The company continues to be actively engaged in the formation of Newco and is in the process of implementing the work necessary to complete the separation and close the Microsoft transaction." The company made no references to any plans for a Windows 8-powered version of the Nook today, despite lots of speculation that such a tablet is in the works.
Source: Barnes and Noble
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