US-based book retailer Barnes & Noble says it’s now going to work with third-party manufacturers to produce its Nook tablets, although its monochrome Simple Touch and Glowlight eBook readers will continue to be developed in-house.
The announcement was made as the company revealed its fourth-quarter and full-year financial results for the period until 27th April 2013. Annual revenue was down 4.1% to $6.8 billion (£4.4 million), while net losses increased to $154.8 million (£100.3 million).
The NOOK segment, which includes devices, digital content and accessories) saw revenue fall 16.8% for the year to $776 million, although digital content sales increased 16.2% for the year.
William Lynch, Barnes & Noble’s CEO, said “We are taking big steps to reduce the losses in the NOOK segment, as we move to a partner-centric model in tablets and reduce overhead costs. We plan to continue to innovate in the single purpose black-and-white eReader category, and the underpinning of our strategy remains the same today as it has since we first entered the digital market, which is to offer customers any digital book, magazine or newspaper, on any device.”