Microsoft Chooses The Nook-Ular Option
by Ben Hanson
I love being an observer of the Tech Wars (and no, I don't mean the book written by William Shatner). Everything can change in an instant. On Tuesday, I wrote an article discussing the strategic implications of Barnes & Noble's Nook HD and HD+ tablets being opened up to the Google Play store (the devices having previously been a closed Android ecosystem). To summarize, I described the event as a significant win for Google (GOOG), a mixed bag for Barnes & Noble (BKS) and a loss for Microsoft (MSFT). Google got a million potential new Google Play customers and advertisement eyeballs, Barnes & Noble's tablet offering had a chance of gaining new customers thanks to its newfound apps (10,000 native Nook apps expanded to 700,000 Google Play apps) and Microsoft lost because of 1) Google's gains, 2) it made them look foolish, since they owned a 16-17% stake in the company and Barnes & Noble was cozying up to Google, and 3) it forced their hand. Microsoft's options, as I saw them, were to hold their stake and pout, pout and sell their stake (most likely at a loss, seeing as the Nook project has been a perennial money loser) or buy out the Nook Media subsidiary and nip a potentially viable Android table maker in the bud. read more »
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