Barnes & Noble: Nook E-Reader Sold Out Through Holidays

Barnes & Noble confirmed Friday that its new Nook e-reader is sold out in pre-orders. While that may be good news for Barnes & Noble on initial Nook sales, it also means that prospective Nook buyers who haven't yet placed orders for the holidays are, like Sony Daily Edition buyers, pretty much out of luck.

The Nook will begin shipping on Nov. 30, but Barnes & Noble has confirmed that pre-orders have depleted its initial stock, and that new Nook orders won't be filled until Jan. 4 at the earliest.

A request for comment to Barnes & Noble by Channelweb.com wasn't immediately returned, but Barnes & Noble said in a statement that "we've sold out of our initial Nook allotment available for delivery before the holidays."

Barnes & Noble also said that people who place Nook orders now will receive a certificate -- noting a January ship date for the Nook -- to give as a gift if they so desire.

The short supply of a hot new e-reader is something Barnes & Noble now has in common with Sony, which on Wednesday admitted that supplies of its Daily Edition e-reader wouldn't be enough to carry it through the holidays.

A Sony spokesperson said that despite Sony doing "everything possible," it "can't make a guarantee" that Daily Edition e-readers will arrive before Christmas.

The admissions will leave both Barnes & Noble and Sony shorthanded during the holiday season -- a crucial time for establishing both the Nook and Sony Reader brands and ability to compete against Amazon and Kindle.

For its part, Amazon has already attempted to capitalize on its competitors' shortfalls. Amazon.com is prominently advertising the fact that both Kindle and the larger Kindle DX are stocked and would arrive in time for Christmas.

None of the e-reading vendors have confirmed unit sales, but Forrester Research said it now expects U.S. sales of e-readers to be about 3 million in 2009 -- a full million more than the 2 million it projected just two months ago. Amazon's market share is currently about 60 percent, with Sony's at 35 percent, according to the researcher.

A Forrester analyst, Sarah Rotman Epps, suggested to The Wall Street Journal Wednesday that the e-reader shortages means that Barnes & Noble and Sony's strategies to rush out new Kindle competitors has probably backfired.

"They are now dealing with the realities of their manufacturing and supply-chain issues," she said.

For more on Sony, Amazon and the e-reader landscape, check out our side-by-side comparison of Kindle, Sony Readers and Plastic Logic's upcoming Que reader.