Will it be called the "cranny"?

[Gob]

US bookstore chain Barnes & Noble has seen its fourth-quarter net loss more than double to $118.6m (£77m) as sales of its Nook e-books and devices continue to drop.

Sales in the Nook business fell 34% from a year ago, leading to the division making a $177m loss.

To try to cut losses in the segment, the firm said its tablets would now be co-branded and produced in partnership with a third party manufacturer.
Shares in Barnes & Noble fell 17%.

Company-wide, Barnes & Noble's revenue fell 7.4% to $1.28bn.

The firm launched its first Nook e-reader in 2009 in an attempt to take on Amazon's Kindle in the growing e-books market.

But it has been an expensive project and sales have fallen.

In the year to 27 April 2013, sales fell 16.8% and losses have grown to $475m in the Nook division.

It now plans to significantly reduce losses in the segment by "limiting risks associated with manufacturing".

While it will continue to develop its e-readers in-house, its tablet line will now be produced and marketed with a consumer electronics manufacturer that it did not identify.

"We are taking big steps to reduce the losses in the Nook segment, as we move to a partner-centric model in tablets and reduce overhead costs," said Barnes & Noble chief executive William Lynch.

"We plan to continue to innovate in the single purpose black-and-white e-reader category, and the underpinning of our strategy remains the same today as it has since we first entered the digital market, which is to offer customers any digital book, magazine or newspaper, on any device."

Last month, it was reported that Microsoft, which already owns 17% of Nook Media, was planning to buy the division outright.

Never heard fo a fucking "nook".

[Sue U]

[oldr_n_wsr]

Way ahead of his time.