Nook revenues stay flat as Barnes & Noble fails to scale production

Barnes & Noble posted some pretty dull revenue figures for the first quarter of its fiscal 2013.

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While sales of content for its Nook e-reader (e.g., apps, books, newsstand) rose 46 percent, the overall segment was pretty flat on revenue at $192 million.

For that you can, once again, blame hardware sales. As with the company’s previous quarter, sales of Nook devices were slow this time around, which Barnes & Noble blames on a combination of lower selling prices and the inability to fulfill demand for its Nook Simple Touch with Glowlight.

This is a problem Barnes & Noble is going to have to solve quickly, especially now that it’s expanding the Nook device and content business into the UK. After all, if it’s not able to meet demand for the Glowlight here in the U.S., there’s little use promoting it in a new market.

Losses for the Nook segment climbed $6 million to $57 million, likely as Barnes & Noble invests in creating the next set of Nook products for the holiday season.

Overall, Barnes & Noble’s revenue jumped 2.5% to $1.5 billion year-over-year, thanks to sales of books like the notorious Fifty Shades of Grey.