Barnes and Noble Nook Coming a Week Later

By Geoff Duncan Published November 30, 2009

Barnes and Noble is sure trying to make a run at Amazon.com‘s Kindle with its Nook e-reader—but it’s going to be at least another week until the games begin. The company has announced that instead of rolling out its Nook reader at retail locations beginning today, high demand is forcing the company to delay retail availability until December 7…giving Amazon another holiday shopping week with less competition.

Barnes & Noble's Nook — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Even on December 7, Barnes & Noble isn’t expecting its retail locations to be overflowing with devices: a spokesperson told Reuters the company only expects to have a “very limited” number of Nooks available at retail. The retail delay comes on the heels of Barnes & Noble announcing the Nook will be out of stock for the holidays, and orders for the device placed after November 20 won’t be filled until early January.

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Although the Kindle seems to be the dominant player in the e-Reader market—it’s tough to say because no companies reveal their e-reader sales or revenue projections—the Nook is receiving attention as a potential consumer favorite because of features it offers that are missing from the Kindle: microSD expandable storage, Wi-Fi connectivity (in addition to 3G over-the-air connectivity), and a smaller color touchscreen display for controls.

In the meantime, Amazon is wasting no time tooting its own horn, announcing the Kindle is the best-selling product on Amazon.com, and that November is already the Kindle’s best sales month ever…and that’s before taking Black Friday and Cyber Monday into consideration.

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