Microsoft to invest $300 million in new joint venture with Barnes & Noble, to deliver B&N’s library of digital e-Books, magazines and newspapers to Windows 8 users.
There’s some fresh news out of Microsoft today that could mean trouble for Amazon’s Kindle business moving forward. Barnes & Noble and Microsoft have settled their patent litigation and have entered into a new strategic partnership. As a result, virtually all of Barnes & Noble’s digital e-Book content will be made available to Windows 8 users via a new NOOK application which is in development.According to a press release which hit the wire today, Microsoft will make a $300 million investment in a new B&N subsidiary in exchange for an approximate 17.6% equity stake in the business. Barnes & Noble will own approximately 82.4% of the new subsidiary, which hasn’t been named yet, and will have an ongoing relationship with the company’s retail stores.
Barnes & Nobles NOOK Tablet competes head-to-head with Amazon’s Kindle Fire
“The shift to digital is putting the world’s libraries and newsstands in the palm of every person’s hand, and is the beginning of a journey that will impact how people read, interact with, and enjoy new forms of content,” said Andy Lees, President at Microsoft. “Our complementary assets will accelerate e-reading innovation across a broad range of Windows devices, enabling people to not just read stories, but to be part of them. We’re at the cusp of a revolution in reading.”That all sounds great, but this news will mean more a few months from now when Windows 8-based tablets finally hit the scene. The upcoming NOOK application will give all Windows 8 users access to Barnes & Noble’s extensive library of digital e-book content, but that doesn’t mean much to desktop users in our opinion. We’re sure having access to B&N’s content, however, will factor into any potential tablet consumers’ buying decisions in the future. This move is yet another step in the right direction for Microsoft and further shows the company’s commitment to attack the tablet space from all angles when Windows 8 is finally released. Whether or not they are successful remains to be seen, but Microsoft’s app and content ecosystems seems to be building up nicely at this point.
