Wed Jun 24, 2009 9:50 pm
Electronics retailer Best Buy plans to grow its mobile phone venture, called Best Buy Mobile, by opening 40 standalone handset stores within the year, which it hopes will boost its share of the U.S. market.
The Richfield, Minn.-based company's new chief executive, Brian Dunn, said mobile phones will be a crucial part of the company's new campaign to focus on "gadgets with connectivity."
Dunn said consumers were responding well to its new Best Buy Mobile displays -- central locations where mobile phones such as Apple's iPhone and Palm's Pre are shown.
Best Buy currently has about 3 percent of the U.S. market, which it believes it can push to 15 percent.
Last month, Best Buy paid $2.1 billion for a 50 percent stake in Carphone Warehouse, Europe's largest mobile phone retailer. Carphone Warehouse currently has an 11 percent share in Europe.
However, the company faces increasing competition from rivals Wal-Mart, which is aggressively pushing to expand its share of the electronics market, and Amazon.com, which continues to become a dominant factor as customers gravitate to online shopping.
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