Barnes & Noble is going to launch a “cropped” version of its tablet in the American retail chain Wal-Mart on February 22 at a price of $ 199.
While everyone is waiting for the release of the new iPad (the news about which, most likely, has already bored many), the struggle for a “place in the sun” between other market players is heating up. Everyone understands that it is very difficult to compete with an Apple device on its own field. For this reason, many players try to approach the issue in a non-standard way.
Asus, for example, produces netbook tablets in which the keyboard acts as a docking station. Samsung is trying to play, as always, on a wide range: the company produces tablets with six different screen diagonals (from 5 to 11.6 inches). Its model range is even richer.
True, only Amazon was able to achieve some success by releasing a budget Kindle Fire tablet.So today, when they talk about an iPad competitor, they usually mean this particular tablet.
But a holy place is never empty. This device has a relatively successful competitor – the Nook Tablet, which is produced by Barnes & Noble, the largest chain selling books in the United States.
Both devices entered the American market with a difference of two days, but despite the more powerful characteristics (more RAM, more permanent memory), the Nook Tablet immediately found itself in the role of catching up. Many attributed this to the price, which was $50 higher than the Kindle Fire.
Apparently, Barnes & Noble also thinks so: last night it was reported that the company is going to release an 8-gigabyte version of the device this Wednesday at a price of $ 199. In other words, the characteristics and price tag of the Nook Tablet will be almost identical to the Kindle Fire.
Unfortunately, Barnes & Noble did not listen to those who claim that the recipe for Kindle Fire success is in excellent marketing and a high-quality app store that opens access to Amazon’s “bins”. So it’s hardly worth waiting for high-profile sales from the Nook Tablet, because at the moment there are very few applications in its own market. And if Barnes & Noble really wants to succeed, the company needs to involve developers more actively now.