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US retailer Barnes & Noble has reported revenues over the last two months of the year of $1.2bn, a drop of 10.9% on 2011, with sales of Nook digital products declining during the festive period.
The statement said that the Nook segment of the business, which comprises the company's digital business - including readers, digital content and accessories - had revenues of $311m for the nine-week period to 29th December, down 12.6% on a year ago.
The Nook devices were launched in the UK on 29th October 2012, though a Barnes & Noble spokeswoman declined to give any UK-specific performance information.
Digital content sales were up by 13.1%, while Nook device unit sales declined during the holiday period as compared to the year before. Digital content sales include digital books, digital newsstand, and apps.
C.e.o. William Lynch said there was a "shortfall" in sales of Nook devices in December: "We entered the holiday with two great new products, Nook HD and Nook HD+, both highly rate tablets of phenomenal quality. Nook device sales got off to a good start over the Black Friday period, but then fell short of expectations for the balance of holiday. We are examining the root cause of the December shortfall in sales, and will adjust our strategies accordingly going forward."
The company is expecting fiscal year 2013 Nook Media revenues of around $3bn, and Nook segment EBITDA losses at a "comparable level to fiscal year 2012".
Meanwhile, the results reported that the bookstore sales of "core products" had exceeded expectations over the period, with the company continuing to predict fiscal year 2013 retail comparable bookstore sales to decline on a percentage basis in the low- to mid-single digits.
The company is planning to report its second quarter results on or about 19th February 2013.