Barnes & Noble jumps into e-book market

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 09 Mar 2009 2:13 User comments (3)

Barnes & Noble has formally jumped into the e-book market this week, purchasing the e-book retailer Fictionwise for $15.7 million USD.

William Lynch Jr., CEO of B&N, added that the company will be launching an e-book store later this year and that they purchased Fictionwise because they had "one of the most popular applications on the iPhone, and they really understand merchandising."

Fictionwise, which launched almost a decade ago, has sold about 5 million e-books and "will operate as an independent subsidiary of Barnes & Noble." Lynch Jr. reminds that Barnes & Noble was one of the first large retailers to begin offering e-books, which it did in 2001, but quit the practice in early 2003 as sales were virtually non-existent.

Fictionwise co-founder Stephen Pendergrast noted that he estimates the US e-book market amounted to $100 million USD in revenue for 2008 and expects the market to continue to grow.

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3 user comments

19.3.2009 07:50

Lothros

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Junior Member

Just another example of a company doing things too early for their own good i guess.

29.3.2009 14:06

ZippyDSM

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AfterDawn Addict

Ya we need a solid yet cheap ebook reader something 7 inchs or better black/white or low color resolution if its over 50$ forget it.

Looking at car DVD players you might just be able to build a medium qaulity LCD device that would be prefect for still pictures yet offer reasoanble qaulity for the 50-100$ price range.

314.3.2009 15:47

hermes_vb

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Senior Member

I don't think is too early when it's clear ebooks are going to be the future. Now the question is can they compete with Amazon?

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Barnes & Noble jumps into e-book market

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