Barnes & Noble slashed the price of three of its Nook e-reader and tablet models on Aug. 12.The move is seen as an attempt to come at par with other low-cost tablets in the market.
The 16GB Nook Tablet has received a price cut of $50 and is now $199. The 8GB model, on the other hand, has received a price drop of $20 and is now available for $179. The Nook Color's price was also slashed by $20 to $149. The new prices went into effect on Sunday. The Nook price cut took place exactly when Google forayed into the 7-inch tablet market with Nexus 7. Rumors claim that Amazon is planning to launch its new range of Kindle Fire tablets and Apple is also gearing up to unleash a 7-inch Mini iPad.
With the reduced price tag, the 16GB Nook Tablet will be in the same price bracket as the 8GB Nexus 7 and Amazon's 8GB Kindle Fire.
Additionally, WSJ reported that, "Officials at the component suppliers, who declined to be named," informed them about Apple's Asian component suppliers who are now engaged in mass production of the smaller tablet and the launch of the tablets can be expected as soon as in September.
Another report from Pacific Crest analyst Andy Hargreaves also suggested that Apple is prepping a 7.85-inch iPad Mini with 8GB of flash memory for $299. Hargreaves even claimed that Apple will sell 10 million iPad Minis by the end of 2012.
"We anticipate an entry-level 7.80-inch iPad with 8GB of NAND capacity to price at $299 with an initial gross margin of 31%," mentioned Hargreaves in a research note.
While the current iPads feature a 9.7-inch display (when measured diagonally), the new iPad Mini will purportedly sport a 7.85-inch display.
Meanwhile, to make the competition tougher, Amazon, Apple's archrival in the tablet space, is also launching the next-generation Kindle Fire tablet. China Times reported that the online retail giant is prepping a new Kindle Fire and the company will make as many as two million new units to hit the market shelves on August 7.
However, the best small and low-cost tablet available in today's market is Google's recently launched 7-inch tablet, Nexus 7. The Google and Asus co-branded tablet comes with 1280 x 800 IPS display, quad-core Tegra 3 processor, Android's newly launched 4.1 Jelly Bean OS, 1.2-megapixel camera, 1GB of RAM, Near Field Communication technology, and a 4,325mAh battery.
Apparently, the competition in the small tablets meant for budget-minded customers will increase in the coming days. How far Nook tablets will be able to sustain this increasing pressure? Only time will tell.
