Microsoft May Buy Barnes & Noble's Nook for $1 Billion (Video)
Microsoft is offering to pay $1 billion to buy Nook's e-reader, tablet and e-book business, which was created by Barnes & Noble, reports TechCrunch (video below).
In April 2012, Microsoft spent $300 million on an 18% stake in the business. The idea at the time was to get Barnes & Noble content on Microsoft's Windows 8 tablets.
Barnes & Noble said in January 2012 that it was considering spinning off the Nook, which became a separate entity, Nook Media, in October 2012.
Nook Media removed the Nook brand from Barnes & Noble, although Barnes & Noble stores still sell and promote the Nook product line.
About 10 million Nook devices, tablets and e-readers, have been sold, but it stills struggles to compete with Amazon.com's Kindle e-reader.
Nook plans to leave the tablet business by the end of 2014. Nook e-books would be available through apps on third-party devices, which has speculated to be Microsoft devices.
While Microsoft may acquire Nook Media, Barnes & Noble founder Leonard Riggio has proposed buying back the entire Barnes & Noble company.
Sources: ClipSyndicate.com and TechCrunch
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