E-book manufacturers Barnes & Noble slashed prices of three models of its Nook e-reader and tablet devices on Sunday. Nook tablet with 16 GB of memory is priced at USD 199 from USD 249.
Reportedly, Nook has helped Barnes & Noble to capture the US e-books market by 27 percent. Amazon is the market leader with about 60 percent of e-book and e-reader sales.
The largest US bookstore chain also shaved $20 off its 8 GB version of the tablet to $179. Barnes & Noble lowered the price of its Nook Color by $20, bringing it to $149, the latest reduction for that model.
Despite the popularity of the Nook devices, Barnes & Noble has had to reduce the price of various versions on a number of occasions to compete with Amazon, which is believed to be preparing to launch a new version of its Kindle Fire tablet. The earlier price reductions cut into Barnes & Noble’s earnings.