Beginning April 18, 2010, Best Buy Company, Inc . ( BBY ), one of the leading consumer electronic retailers, will sell Barnes & Noble, Inc .’s ( BKS ) NOOK eBook Reader for $259.99 at its 1,070 stores in the United States and online. Richfield, Minnesota based company, Best Buy, also hinted that it will put BN eReader software on some selected personal computers, netbooks and smartphones, whereby customers will be able to access Barnes & Noble’s eBookstore. Barnes & Noble is the largest U.S. specialty bookstore chain and also a provider of eBookstore solution through its website, Barnes & Noble.com from where the customers can purchase and read eBooks on a wide range of digital platforms. NOOK eBook Reader has access to Barnes & Noble’s digital store of more than one million eBooks, magazines and newspapers. The deal provides Barnes & Noble a solid platform in the rapidly expanding e-reader market, and positions it to better compete with Amazon.com Inc .’s ( AMZN ) e-reader device Kindle and Apple Inc .'s ( AAPL ) iPad. Until now, NOOK eBook Reader was only sold at 723 Barnes & Noble bookstores in 50 states and through the company’s website. The e-book market is flourishing, and has been outpacing that of physical books. On the other hand, the partnership also benefits Best Buy by increasing its portfolio of electronic products offered. The company in the consumer electronics segment faces stiff competition from Wal-Mart Stores Inc . ( WMT ). Best Buy is a specialty retailer of consumer electronics, home office products, entertainment software, appliances and related services with operations in United States, Canada, Europe, China, Mexico and Turkey. Read the full analyst report on "BBY" Read the full analyst report on "BKS" Read the full analyst report on "AMZN" Read the full analyst report on "AAPL" Read the full analyst report on "WMT" Zacks Investment Research