Barnes & Noble slashes Nook prices to compete with Google’s Nexus 7

With the Google Nexus 7 on the market, Barnes & Noble has slashed the prices of its Nook Color and Tablet lines to remain competitive.

Google’s move to undercut 7-inch tablets and readers by pricing the Nexus 7 at $199 has been a resounding success. But luckily for consumers, the price cutting doesn’t end there. Now Barnes & Noble is feeling the pressure, and has slashed the prices of its Nook Color and 8GB tablet by $20 and its 16GB tablet by $50.

The Nook Color is now priced at $149 (from $169). The Nook 8GB Tablet can be purchased for $179 (from $199), while its 16GB counterpart is now only $20 more expensive than the 8GB at $199 (from $249).

Barnes & Noble is banking on its new pricing strategy to lure shoppers from the Nexus 7. Both tablets are based on the Android operating system, but the Nook offers 16GB of storage at the same cost of an 8GB Nexus 7. Based on our own review time with both units, we still have to give the Google Nexus 7 our recommendation in lieu of the Nook.

With reports of a 7-inch iPad and Amazon’s Kindle Fire 2, pending a release announcement, Barnes & Noble has to scramble to find a way to salvage its market share in 7-inch tablets, a space the Nook and Amazon Kindle Fire once dominated. It should be interesting to see what Barnes & Noble will bring to the table with its Nook Tablet 2, purported to arrive in November.