Barnes & Noble announces abysmal holiday Nook sales
The bookseller's Nook business generates $125 million for the nine-week holiday period -- a 60.5 percent decrease compared to last year.
Barnes & Noble's Nook business had a rough holiday season.
Total Nook revenue, which includes digital content, device, and accessories sales, reached $125 million for the nine-week holiday season that ended December 28, the bookseller announced on Thursday. That's down 60.5 percent compared to the same period in 2012.
Barnes & Noble was especially hurt by Nook device and accessories sales, which fell 66.7 percent year over year. The company blamed the decline on fewer sales and lower average selling prices. Digital content sales were $36.5 million for the holiday period, a 27.3 percent decline compared to last year.
The news comes just a day after Barnes & Noble announced the immediate appointment of Michael Huseby to the role of CEO. Nook is one of the divisions he'll be leading as the company's chief executive. For his part, Huseby tried to keep a brave face on the news, saying his company's troubles were due to its decision in 2013 to not launch any new devices.
"Sales in the NOOK segment declined year-over-year largely because during the previous holiday season the company introduced two new tablet products, while no new tablets were introduced this year," Huseby said. "Instead, we executed our plan to sell through our existing high-quality devices."