30 Aug 2012 10:39:46
Barnes & Noble, the US bookseller, has secured a deal with John Lewis to distribute its Nook e-reader as it seeks to dent Amazon's dominance of the UK digital book market.
John Lewis will be the first retailer outside the US to sell the Nook and will begin stocking it from this autumn in its 37 stores and on its website.
Launched in October 2009, the Nook has helped Barnes & Noble, the largest bricks and mortar bookshop in the US, eat into Amazon's ebook market share. The popularity of its Kindle reader helped Amazon at one point claim to generate 90% of ebook sales in the US, but that has fallen to 60% as Apple's iTunes store and the Nook make inroads. In Britain, publishers estimate Amazon controls 90% of UK ebook sales because of the lack of a digitally advanced rival .
Although the Nook range includes a full-colour touch-screen tablet, launched in February shortly after Amazon's Kindle Fire, only its black and white e-ink readers will be available from launch in the UK.
"John Lewis is where knowledgeable customers turn for trusted advice on the best products to purchase, and they are a perfect partner to help launch Nook in the UK," said Jamie Iannone, president of digital products at Barnes & Noble.
