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| Nook Tablet |
Up close, the Nook Tablet looks almost identical to the Nook Color, save for a lighter gray case. The Tablet isn't heavy by any stretch. The Nook Tablet's update home screen offers multimedia shortcuts like this "More" dropdown window. The Nook Tablet runs on updated Nook software, version 1.4. The Nook Tablet comes at an important time for the company. Amazon's 61% market share share in the e-reader space and analyst predictions that the Kindle Fire could sell up to 5 million units during the fourth quarter meant Barnes and Noble had to make a move. When the Nook Tablet launches, it faces a big question: Will consumers pay $50 more for it when they can pick up the Kindle Fire -- or the discounted Nook Color -- for less? On Monday, Barnes & Noble unveiled its $249 Nook Tablet, following rival bookseller Amazon into the 7-in. Android-powered tablet market. The Nook is to go on sale at the end of next week, several days after Amazon's $199 Kindle Fire tablet begins shipping Neither the Kindle Fire or the Nook Tablet menace Apple's dominance of the tablet market, said analysts.
Tablet war
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New Nook Color could beat Kindle Fire's sub-$200 price
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Sarah Rotman Epps, an analyst with Forrester Research, agreed that the two Android tablets, even though they're priced hundreds less than the lowest-priced iPad, don't pressure Apple's position as the tablet leader.
"The Nook, like the Fire, expands the market," said Epps. Epps estimates that Barnes & Noble will sell 1.5 to 2 million Nook Tablets in the fourth quarter, and Amazon will sell 3 million to 5 million Kindle Fires. In third quarter, Apple sold a record 11.1 million iPads. ainelli doesn't believe Apple's sales will suffer either at the hands of Amazon or Barnes & Noble. "The Nook Tablet will sell to people who not only would not have purchased an iPad, but it will appeal to people who walk into the Barnes & Noble stores," said Mainelli, talking about the floor space Barnes & Noble now dedicates to its Nook line and plans to create Nook-specific stores within its stores.
One thing the experts disagreed on was whether the introductions of the Kindle Fire and Nook Tablet -- both priced under $250 -- prove that there's really no room for devices that cost more than that but less than Apple's iPad. Barnes & Noble unveiled a $249 Nook Tablet Monday just ahead of the crucial holiday shopping season in a bid for more of the growing markets for e-books and tablet computers. The Nook Tablet arrives just weeks after Amazon.com released its Kindle Fire tablet, which sells for $199. Barnes & Noble said its device offers more memory and longer battery life. The Nook Tablet will be in stores and shipped to customers on Nov. 17. Like the Nook Color, it has a 7-inch color touchscreen.
Unlike Amazon, Barnes & Noble doesn’t offer streaming services, but the Nook includes preloaded apps from Hulu and Netflix Inc. that allow users to subscribe to stream movies and TV shows. Since introducing its first Nook in 2009, Barnes & Noble has spent heavily on its e-book readers and e-bookstore. Analysts at Gartner Inc. predict that three of every four tablets sold this year will be an iPad. Barnes & Noble and Amazon.com Inc. generally do not release sales figures. The Nook Tablet will be sold online, in Barnes & Noble stores and by a variety of other retailers, including Target, Best Buy, Staples and Fry’s.
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