From 
The Bookseller:
Barnes & Noble is to expand its e-book service internationally next year, the company’s chief executive has said. The development was revealed at the company’s New York press conference at which it unveiled its $249 Nook Tablet, a direct competitor to Amazon’s Kindle Fire and the Apple iPad.
William Lynch, chief executive of Barnes and Noble, told The Bookseller that publishers and consumers in the UK should expect an announcement within the next four months about the Nook going international. “We want to do it right,” he commented. The comment has prompted speculation that the US chain could do a deal with Waterstone’s, which has previously announced that it intends to develop an e-reader. …
B&N’s share of the ebook market in the US is 27%. Publishers want that share to grow. No publisher would speak on the record about Amazon, but as one executive at the launch put it bluntly, “We are all hoping that B&N will compete successfully. We need them to do so. Amazon engages in thuggish tactics and treats the whole book business as a loss leader.”
Big retailers also sell paper books as loss leaders. Any protests from publishers (who offer them special deals)? Nope.
I hope B&N finally offer ebooks to that despised corner of the English-speaking book-buying world, Australia/NZ. We’re half the UK book market, but geographically “limited” from access to most ebooks.
As I’ve said before, I’m really puzzled by businesses which refuse to take my money.