October 8th, 2009
Barnes & Noble's e-reader triplets and the e-commerce distribution game
Barnes & Noble reportedly is planning to sell its own branded e-reader in a move that would give it three devices hooking up to its book store.
The Wall Street Journal reports that Barnes & Noble is planning a device with a six-inch screen and a touch screen (Techmeme). The device will plug into Barnesandnoble.com. The Journal didn’t have a lot of details, but said Barnes & Noble could announce the device next month.
Let’s take a little inventory:
- Barnes & Noble will have its own branded device;
- The retailer will sell the iRex e-reader;
- Barnes & Noble has partnered with Plastic Logic to launch an e-reader in early 2010;
- And Barnes & Noble is supporting open e-book standards.
Meanwhile, Barnes & Noble sells e-books that can be read on Apple’s iPhone and Research in Motion’s BlackBerry devices. The common thread to these devices will be using Barnesandnoble.com as the primary book store.
Now if Barnes & Noble can cut a deal with Sony—there’s no reason why it wouldn’t—it will have the Amazon Kindle surrounded. Is it any wonder why Amazon is cutting Kindle prices? The game plan appears to be this: Barnes & Noble will have a beefy section for e-readers, use its retail clout to outflank Amazon and get distribution for its e-commerce site.
Also see: E-reader devices: The fun is just starting
Larry Dignan is Editor in Chief of ZDNet and Editorial Director of ZDNet sister site TechRepublic. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
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