Barnes & Noble Inc. (BKS), the target of a $1 billion bid from Liberty Media Corp., unveiled a smaller, lower-cost Nook electronic reader in an effort to boost its share of the growing e-book market.
The $139 touchscreen device has a 6-inch display (15- centimeters) and weighs 35 percent less than the original version, Chief Executive Officer William Lynch said today at a press conference in New York. The largest U.S. bookstore chain debuted the Nook in October 2009 and a year later released a color touchscreen version touted as a reader’s tablet.
Barnes & Noble has about 25 percent of the e-book market in the U.S. and trails only Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN), which introduced the Kindle e-reader in 2007.
Full story: Barnes & Noble Shows $139 Touchscreen Nook – Bloomberg