Barnes & Noble’s Nook sales shrunk by 55% over the holidays

The holiday season is the busiest and most lucrative time of the year for retailers as consumers begin shopping en masse to acquire gifts for their friends and family, and consumer electronics are especially popular during this time. Unfortunately, this didn’t stop Barnes & Noble’s Nook division from suffering a 55% drop in sales during this period.

Barnes & Noble Inc. ’s consumer stores enjoyed an upbeat holiday period, but poor results at the Nook digital business potentially complicate plans to split that division off into a separate public company with the college bookstore group. Nook revenue, which consists of digital devices, e-books and accessories, fell 55% to $56 million for the nine weeks ended Jan. 3, compared with the same period a year ago. Device and accessories sales sank 68% to $28.5 million, while digital content sales declined 25% to $27.4 million. The downbeat results could make it difficult for Barnes & Noble to complete the Nook separation, planned by the end of August, some analysts said, because it will be hard to convince investors the business has a future.