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Samsung, Barnes & Noble team up for tablet

June 6, 2014
Galaxy Tab 4 Nook

Galaxy Tab 4 Nook

By Yoon Sung-won

Samsung Electronics said Thursday it will team up with the U.S. -based book retailer Barnes and Noble to develop a new tablet computer.

It said the alliance will create the synergy of Samsung’s hardware competitiveness and Barnes and Noble’s book contents.

In a joint statement released in the United States, Thursday, the world’s largest smartphone maker and the largest U.S. book distributor laid out their plan to co-brand and produce a seven-inch tablet PC dubbed the “Galaxy Tab 4 Nook.”

The new device will equip Nook digital reading software, which was developed by Barnes and Noble for its e-reader “Nook,” enabling it to access to the book retailer’s library of more than three million books.

Barnes and Noble’s business in the e-reader and tablet computer market has faced a strong challenge from Amazon, the world’s largest online shopping company.

Amazon has adopted more aggressive marketing strategies for its “Kindle” products and its e-book contents, expanding its offline distribution channels through local bookstores.

Barnes and Noble’s has stopped producing its tablet computer “Nook,” which once has been expected to contest with Amazon’s e-reader “Kindle” and tablet computer “Kindle Fire,” since November due to poor sales.

The firm’s sales in the fourth quarter last year nosedived 50.4 percent from a year earlier.

However, the company didn’t give up on the e-book market. USA Today reported that Barnes and Noble CEO Michael Huseby said earlier that the company is trying to create better ways to package physical and digital content, calling the digital side “vital to our mission.”

Samsung Electronics has seen the sales of its Galaxy Tab tablet computers continue to increase as its global tablet PC market share stood at 22.6 percent in the first quarter this year, according to the market researcher Strategy Analytics. The company is following the market leader Apple, which held a 28.9 percent share in the same period.

Under the partnership, Samsung Electronics will develop and provide the Galaxy Tab 4 tablet computer, which will be the hardware platform of the new device, while Barnes and Noble will focus on improving its Nook software.

The price of the Galaxy Tab 4 Nook is not settled yet and it will be available at over 700 Barnes and Noble stores in the United States starting from early August.

Meanwhile, Barnes and Noble said it will continue to produce and sell its $99 e-reader “Nook GlowLight” and provide customer support.