Techcrunch posted today on a fascinating rumor/theory about the Apple Tablet. They claim that Barnes and Noble may have struck a deal to be the “official” bookstore for the Tablet ecosystem. This, of course, contradicts reports of Apple dealing directly with publishers, as well as the Macrumors report that Apple did not want middlemen involved in their ebookstore.

On the other hand, this jives perfectly with B&N’s “toss it against the wall and see what sticks” business model. After all, they’re running three ebookstores across six readers, so why not add another one in the mix? With how B&N has treated the nook, I seriously wonder if they see an opportunity to team up with Apple as a way to eliminate the competition (Kindle) and phase out the much-maligned nook without anyone noticing or caring. Even if killing the nook isn’t their intention, let’s quickly run down competing devices that use the Barnes and Noble ebookstore and the competition to see who would still stand if this rumor is true, and whether it is a smart move by B&N or a deal with the Devil.

B&N properties:

Nook: Had a rocky start, but it is likely to appeal to pure readers as well as gadget hounds. Odds of it being killed off entirely by the Apple tablet are slim, but it might see a price cut or feature bump fairly quickly.

Plastic Logic Que: They’re in big trouble if this rumor pans out. A tablet that runs iPhone apps, plus has the same B&N content that Que has? It’s a tough sell to argue a business should spend at minimum $649 for a black and white 4gb device when there’s a potential competitor with better specs and probably a roughly similar price point.

RCA Lexi: Poor thing is going to be eaten alive. It barely had a chance before, and now there’s just no shot…Unless it comes in at $150 or below, no one is going to spend money on it over a nook or a tablet.

Non-Barnes and Noble readers:

Kindle: Kindle will suffer long-term IF two things happen. One, Apple would have to boot Amazon’s Kindle software out of the app store, and two, Amazon would have to remain with e-ink and not move to color. Both of those would be a major blow to the Kindle’s growth, but if neither happen then I don’t see there being a huge immediate rush of people selling their Kindles for Apple Tablets. Like I said about the nook, there’s an appeal about a pure reading device, and the library of books people have with Amazon is going to make them “stickier”, at least for a little while.

Sony Readers: Again, there’s a market for dedicated readers. Also, Sony has a pretty rabid following due to the high quality of their hardware. Sony has been in this market for some time, and they could always bundle Reader software with a tablet PC if they start to feel threatened.

Alex Reader: Here Spring Design, Borders and Kobo are going to have to differentiate on price and features. Obviously, no one knows until tomorrow what the Apple Tablet will price at, but the Alex is still almost $100 more than its closest competitors. It doesn’t bode well for them that they are tied to a sinking ship Borders either.

Misc. e-ink devices: This is a very broad category, but here’s my general view; unless they’re tied to a specific content provider, bring an amazing set of features to the table, or priced very competitively to the Kindle and the nook, they’re going to have a very hard time competing.

So if (and I still think that’s a big if) Barnes and Noble really is going to be the “Official eBookstore of the Apple Tablet” it’s a huge win for them. Is it a loss for their competition? That’s a tougher call, but it will be interesting to find out…less than 24 hours to go! What do you think about this rumor? Share below!