Barnes & Noble is planning to launch its Nook e-reader line and digital bookstore in the United Kingdom later this year. Online sales through a UK-specific website are to be supported by retail sales from mid-October onwards, in time for the Christmas holiday period. It will face stiff competition from the long-established Amazon Kindle line and WH Smith-supported Kobo e-reader.
The Nook Simple Touch model will be the company’s first device launch in the market, offering both the standard and GlowLight-enabled versions — although it is not clear who will stock the device. Bookselling chain Waterstones signed a deal to sell the Kindle in its 300 stores, leading to the suggestion the Nook will be primarily making an appearance in supermarkets instead of specialty stores.
The move into UK e-book sales marks the US book retailer’s first-ever international expansion. The move could lead to other European markets seeing the Nook reader in the not-too-distant future, which Barnes & Noble is already planning for with a company incorporation in Germany in March.
