TechCrunch said that Barnes & Noble subsidiary Nook Media is set to discontinue its Android-powered tablet line by the end of the current financial year, with its e-reader line projected to have its “own gradual, natural decline”.

The speculation came as it was mooted that Microsoft is considering a $1 billion acquisition of Nook Media’s digital assets. Microsoft is already a partner in Nook Media.

While the Nook product line has included tablets for some time, the devices have not gained the same amount of traction as Amazon’s competing Kindle Fire, or Google’s low-cost Nexus line.

The intention is for Nook Media to transition to a model where its content is made available through apps on “third party” devices, rather than attempting to offer an integrated device-and-content proposition.

Last week, the company said that it was set to add support for Google Play apps and media to its tablet devices, in order to provide customers with access to a wider portfolio of content – the company had been building its own proposition.

In the light of the latest speculation, it looks as though this may also have provided the company with a way to reduce its need to bolster its own content ecosystem, for a device line that has a limited shelf life.