Barnes & Noble Chops Prices on Nook, Tablet

Barnes & Noble (NYSE:BKS) cut prices on three models of its Nook e-reader and tablet on Sunday as it seeks to entice shoppers ahead of the key back to school shopping season.

The bookseller is offering the 8 gigabyte Nook Tablet for $179, down from $199, and shaved off $50 from the 16 GB tablet to $199. The 7-inch Nook Color will be sold for $149, down about $20 from $169.

The devices are now available for the “lowest prices ever,” said Jamie Iannone, president of Barnes & Noble’s digital products group.

The announcement comes amid rumors that rival Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN), which controls 60% of the market, is ready to unveil a new version of its Kindle Fire tablet.

Barnes & Noble has been struggling to compete with Amazon’s widening market share and has had to cut prices several times. Last quarter, the New York-based company reported a weaker-than-expected profit and said sales from the Nook fell 10.5%.

Shares of Barnes & Noble were down 1.7% to $14.07 Monday. They have fallen nearly 11% from 12 months ago, while Amazon’s have grown 14%.