Barnes & Noble Announces Award-Winning NOOK(TM) eBook Reader will be
Sold at Walmart
NOOK Devices to Be Sold in Walmart Stores and on Walmart.com Beginning Next Week
New York, NY – October 21, 2010 – Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE: BKS),
the world’s largest bookseller, today announced its award-winning NOOK
eBook Reader will be sold in 2,500 Walmart stores (NYSE: WMT) and
online at www.walmart.com. The popular NOOK devices are expected to
arrive on Walmart shelves beginning as soon as October 24, in advance
of the holiday shopping season.
The NOOK eBook Readers will be prominently featured as the premier
eBook Reader in the consumer electronics area. Many Walmart stores
will feature a NOOK-branded eReading area where shoppers can see and
touch a demonstration device.
Walmart will offer both great choice and value with two NOOK by Barnes
& Noble eBook Reader models — NOOK 3G, which offers free AT&T 3G
wireless and Wi-Fi connectivity, as well as NOOK Wi-Fi, a Wi-Fi only
model. Both offer a crisp, paper-like E-Ink display for reading and a
beautiful color touch screen for navigation, and access to shop the
Barnes & Noble expansive eBookstore with more than one million eBooks,
magazines and newspapers, most available for $9.99 or less and more
than half a million free titles. Digital content from Barnes & Noble
is downloaded wirelessly in seconds. NOOK devices are also the only to
offer sharing of eBooks with friends through Barnes & Noble’s
breakthrough LendMe(TM) technology.
“Sales of NOOK devices continue to exceed our expectations, and we are
thrilled to be able to partner with Walmart, one of the world’s
greatest retailers, to expand the distribution of our award-winning
NOOK eBook Reader,” said Chris Peifer, Vice President, Digital
Business Development at Barnes & Noble. “Walmart’s millions of
shoppers will have an easy and convenient way to try NOOK devices in
many stores and to learn why NOOK is the most full-featured eReading
device on the market, and the perfect gift solution for anyone who
loves to read.”