Redmond, Washington, Dec. 7 (Bloomberg) -- Microsoft Corp. and Barnes & Noble Inc. agreed to sell Barnes & Noble books and Microsoft's online products and services through their Web sites, a blow to No. 1 online book merchant Amazon.com Inc.
The products will be sold through the barnesandnoble.com online bookstore, Microsoft's MSN network and WebTV Network, which links TV sets to the Internet, the companies said. Financial details weren't disclosed. Microsoft shares rose 6 3/16 to a record 133 9/16. Barnes & Noble rose 3 5/8 to 33 1/2. Amazon rose 2 1/2 to 191.
Barnes & Noble, the largest U.S. bookseller, has been trying to blunt Amazon.com's revenue growth by competing on the Internet. Microsoft, the No.1 personal computer software maker, has been revamping its MSN network of Web sites to make it more attractive to PC users and to make money through online commerce.
''If you look at it as a way of locking up two of the potential top portals, yeah, it's a big deal'' for Barnes & Noble, said Melissa Bane, an analyst at the Yankee Group. Barnes and Noble also has an agreement with America Online Inc., the biggest online service.
''Only MSN and AOL connect with consumers. That makes a difference,'' Bane said.
Alliance
Under the Microsoft-Barnes & Noble agreement, Barnes & Noble will be the exclusive online bookseller on MSN Shopping.
The pact also allows them to jointly expand globally, promoting each other's products and services outside the U.S. Both companies have been beefing up their overseas operations.
The marketing and distribution agreement will last for ''multiple years,'' is open ended and has no expiration date, said Microsoft spokeswoman Delona Lang.
Microsoft and Barnes & Noble will make payments to each other for a series of agreements covering various services, Lang said, declining to give the net result.
''The combination of our knowledge of books and related information with Microsoft's approach to streamlined content presentation is a win for consumers,'' said Carl Rosendorf, vice president of sales, marketing and business development for barnesandnoble.com..
Last month, Microsoft agreed to make Amazon its premier music merchant on MSN's Shopping Channel.
16:49:22 12/07/1998 |
