Barnes & Noble hasn't given up on the Nook yet, but the same can't be said of consumers.
The bookseller revealed in its second quarter earnings report Tuesday that revenue from its Nook devices and digital content declined by 32% from the same period a year earlier, due to lower demand and repeated price cuts to compete with others like Amazon. That decline, combined with a drop in retail revenue, led Barnes & Noble to report an 8% decline in overall revenue year-over-year.
See also: Barnes & Noble: When Great Isn’t Good Enough
Michael Huseby, president of Barnes & Noble and CEO of the Nook Media division, tried to put a positive face on the news by talking up the company's plans for the holiday season and its "full selection" of Nook devices, including the recently released Nook GlowLight e-reader.
Yet the rhetoric is much different than this time last year when then-CEO William Lynch focused his earnings report comments solely on the promise of the Nook business, which was still growing at the time.
Since then, however, Nook revenue has suffered double digit percentage declines in several quarters and the company publicly teased the idea of turning to outside manufacturers to produce the device. Lynch, perhaps the biggest advocate for Barnes & Noble's digital efforts, resigned from his role as CEO in July.
Despite the many red flags in the latest earnings report, Barnes & Noble did appease investors on at least one key front. The company managed to turn a profit for the quarter thanks to cost cutting efforts. Still, Barnes & Noble stock was up down by more than 2% in early trading Tuesday following the earnings report.

BKS data by YCharts
Image: Joe Raedle/Getty