Analysts: Lower Barnes & Noble Nook prices will lead to strong Q3 demand for the tablets

Late last month, Barnes & Noble announced that it was exiting the tablet manufacturing business and was hoping to find a partner that would continue to build the slates. At the same time, price cuts that have been in effect since Father's Day are expected to push sales of the Nook line starting in the third quarter. The 8GB version of the 7 inch Nook HD is $129 after starting May at $199. The 16GB variant of the 8.9 inch Nook HD+ is just $149 after starting May at $269.

Before prices were cut, shipments of Barnes & Noble Nook tablets were dropping. From 1 million tablets in the fourth quarter of 2012, 700,00 units were in transit in the first quarter of 2013. The recently ended second quarter might have been worse with just 500,000 to 600,000 Nooks shipped as competition from other manufacturers affected demand for the tablets.

But similar to the way that demand for the HP TouchPad soared when HP stopped producing the tablet and cut its price to $99.99 back in 2011, some are calling for a surge in demand for the Android flavored slabs starting this quarter. If the current price level doesn't help clear the shelves of inventory, expect another round of price cuts from the Book retailer.

Analysts don't expect the halt in Nook production to affect the contract manufacturers in Taiwan since production was limited compared to other tablets being assembled in the country. Pegatron was the manufacturer behind the Nook tablets.

source: DigiTimes