Orders for B&N’s New Nook Readers at Record High (BKS, AAPL, AMZN, GOOG, WMT, TGT)

To some degree, of course, Lynch is right. Since the iPad from Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) launched in 2009, tablets have followed from Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN), whose Kindle ereader beat the iPad to market, Samsung Electronics, and others. As other tablets based on Google Inc.’s (NASDAQ: GOOG) Android operating system entered the market, competition has heated up.

Last week Pew Research released new data showing that Android-based tablets now hold 48% share compared with 52% for Apple’s iOS. Last year Apple held 81% of the market to just 15% for Android. Amazon’s Kindle Fire tablets, which use a custom version of Android, have a 21% share on their own, and Samsung owns 8% of the market.

Where the Nook tablets fit in, according to Lynch, is with readers and families. The 7-inch and 9-inch HD/HD+ tablets will sell for $199 and $269 respectively, prices are competitive with Amazon’s 7-inch Kindle Fire HD and lower than the base price of $299 for Amazon’s 8.9-inch Fire HD.

B&N can afford to take small margins on the devices because, Lynch says, Nook users purchase a lot of content. And the Nook will be available at both Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) and Target Corp. (NYSE: TGT), unlike the Amazon devices which are no longer carried by either of the giant retailers.

B&N’s share price is up 5.9% in mid-afternoon trading at $14.15 in a 52-week range of $9.35 to $26.00.

Paul Ausick