After sales of the e-reader and tablet line fell 34% in the company's fiscal fourth quarter, which ended in April, Barnes & Noble (BKS) executives said Tuesday that it's time for a change in strategy. The bookseller will stay the course on its e-reader business, but Barnes & Noble plans to pursue a partnership to help it make Nook HD tablets. The company will continue to sell Nook tablets in stores, but future devices might be co-branded with the new manufacturer's name as well as the Barnes & Noble logo.
– Barnes & Noble appears to be admitting defeat when it comes to competing with Apple, Amazon, and Samsung in the tablet market. The company announced today that it will no longer be making its own color Nook tablets, following big losses for Nook in the fourth quarter. However, the bookseller will still manufacture its black and white Nook e-readers, and will sell co-branded color tablets made by other companies, the Wall Street Journal reports. Not only did Nook revenue decline 34%, but declining Nook sales also hurt the retail store results for the quarter. The decision to pull back from the tablet market leads to questions about where the bookseller is headed; CEO William Lynch has been focused on technology for the past three years, as the print book market continues to struggle. But, CNNMoney reports, Lynch insisted today, "We are 100% not exiting the device business."