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B&N spins Nook brand into new subsidiary, MS invests $300M in "strategic partnership"


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B&N spins Nook brand into new subsidiary, MS invests $300M in "strategic partnership"
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Robo
Formerly Roboman, still
awesome
 
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Portland, OR
 
2012-04-30, 07:08

Sorta big news.

I actually think the Nook brand could be a good fit for Microsoft. It's not a market-leading brand, but it is a well-liked one, and like the Xbox brand, it manages to be price competitive without feeling low-rent. Perhaps most surprisingly of all, it doesn't really overlap with any of Microsoft's existing businesses — the ebook space was one pie that Microsoft hadn't dipped a finger into yet, and 7" tablets are too small to run Windows RT anyways. Microsoft could just tell their hardware partners that they consider 7" tablets to be consumer electronics products, not PCs, no conflict of interest there. (Though I wouldn't be surprised if Nook devices eventually switched from being based on Android to Windows Embedded, perhaps with a PlayBook-style emulation layer for existing apps in the Nook Store.)

In a way, Nook could sort of carry on the torch for Microsoft's Courier, another compact, consumer-electronicsy, not-Windows tablet Microsoft almost made. (I wouldn't be surprised to see a Nook with a pen, either.) Microsoft's position is that iPad-style tablets aren't post-PC devices, they're just new PCs. But I think such a strategy would be especially misguided for smaller, more focused devices, like the Nook. It's sort of like how Microsoft failed for years to convince people to put a PC in their living room, and then they made the Xbox, a smaller, more focused device, and it's the only Microsoft product that people genuinely seem to like now. This might be an attempt to have that multipronged strategy from the beginning — licensing Windows to OEMs for general-purpose tablets, but keeping the focused "book console" in house. Of course, "the beginning" was actually two years ago, but Redmond doesn't turn on a dime.

I will say that there was absolutely no excuse putting out the press release calling the new subsidiary the temporary name "Newco," though. Either introduce a new name or not, don't bother to tell us your placeholder name. Especially when it's obvious they're just going to call it Nook Inc. in the end, anyway.

Your thoughts?

and i guess i've known it all along / the truth is, you have to be soft to be strong
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Bonn89
Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2006
 
2012-04-30, 08:12

Quote:
Originally Posted by Robo View Post
Especially when it's obvious they're just going to call it Nook Inc. in the end, anyway.

Your thoughts?
Microsoft is now involved, though. There's no way the name could make that much sense.


Also, Microsoft just sunk $300M into a product that's high-end model runs Android. So yeah.
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addabox
Veteran Member
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: oaktown
 
2012-04-30, 09:18

Possibly an outgrowth of this?

Quote:
Barnes & Noble and Microsoft have settled their patent litigation, and moving forward, Barnes & Noble and Newco will have a royalty-bearing license under Microsoft’s patents for its NOOK eReader and Tablet products. This paves the way for both companies to collaborate and reach a broader set of customers.
So the patent stuff doesn't look to be going B&N's way, MS suggests a "mutually beneficial" way forward that isn't just cutting into B&N's no doubt slim profit margins. B%N gets exposure on W8, MS gets a toe into the water for ebooks and electronic learning materials without much capital investment.

I don't know how much influence on hardware or software a 17% stake gets Redmond, but maybe that's just an initial position with an option for more extensive involvement later? Either way, it seems..... half assed? Like typical Apple/MS dichotomy-- Apple makes ebooks a central part of their iOS initiative, no holds barred, plus makes a big bid for textbook publishing with iBooks Author. No subsidiary initiative, no flavors, no parallel development track, just iOS functionality. MS can't quite seem to decide how many eggs it wants in the Metro basket, welding it to Win8, letting their phones bring up the rear, running XBox as an entirely separate thing, and now whatever this is-- some kind of silo-ed ebook thing? Partnership? Seekret plan to take over B&N?

That which doesn't kill you weakens you slightly and makes you less able to cope until you're completely incapacitated
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addabox
Veteran Member
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: oaktown
 
2012-04-30, 09:25

Hmmm, or maybe that's the other way around-- MS didn't have a leg to stand on and B&N extracted some investment and compatibility instead of invalidating some of Microsoft's Android patents in open court....

That which doesn't kill you weakens you slightly and makes you less able to cope until you're completely incapacitated
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