Barnes and Noble spring 2011 sees digital surge

Barnes & Noble on Tuesday reported spring results that heralded a major spike in its digital efforts. Its "digital content" sales, led almost exclusively by e-books and magazines, quadrupled in just the past year. Even orders of physical goods through its website were up 37 percent to $198 million, as many were buying Nook Colors or the 2011 Nook redesign.

The bookseller was nonetheless dragged down by its need to hang on to its legacy paper book business. It posted a net loss of $57 million, most of which was owed to dropping conventional book sales. Retail shops saw their sales drop three percent, but mostly on traditional formats. They posted "large increases" of an unmentioned amount both in Nook hardware and in non-book extras, such as games and toys.

CEO Bill Lynch didn't say how Barnes & Noble would overcome the physical sore limits other than to invest in "significant growth areas." Digital was producing better results than what the company had expected. The company's pre-tax earnings could jump as much as much as 30 to 50 percent in the fiscal year that just started this month, the company said.

Although once a distant second to Amazon in e-books, Barnes & Noble has quickly grown to be a major contender and has closed, though not eliminated, much of the gap. Much of this is credited to its indirectly challenging Apple through the Nook Color, whose role as a pseudo-tablet with Android has helped Barnes & Noble dethrone the Kindle at least temporarily. Apple's iBookstore market share hasn't been clearly defined but itself is believed considerably under that for Barnes & Noble, even if more iPads are being sold.

By Electronista Staff