Best Buy Europe chief marketing officer Jeff Severts admits his lack of satisfaction with the retail chain's UK launch in an interview with Marketing Week. In his own words: “I’m not satisfied that enough people in the UK know about Best Buy or understand it with the intimacy I’d like."
Alongside the chain's failing to make its desired impact on the UK market (despite launching 6 stores in 2010), the last 6 months see the exit of a number of senior Best Buy executives-- including European CEO Scott Wheway, branded operations chief Paul Antoniadis and head of online DeVere Forster.
Analysts expect Best Buy UK to post losses of £45m this year-- fuelling speculation of the chain's take on the European market falling flat.
Severts however insists business remains on course, with plans to open 80 more UK stores remaining the same (only on a now unknown timescale).
Commentors also suggest declining W. European PC sales make part of the chain's launch disappointment-- where Gartner says consumer spending is shifting from PCs towards tablet devices, alongside adopting a wait-and-see approach (where customers prefer to wait for Q1 2011's new products and cheaper tablets).
A 1GHz dual-core Tegra 2 processor powers the Tab 10.1, and it comes with either 16GB or 32GB memory. It also carries the usual extras-- x2 cameras (one back-facing, the other front-facing), USB/bluetooth/wifi/HSPA connectivity, gyroscope, accelerometer and digital compass.
Developed with emerging markets in mind (where many don't yet have affordable internet access), the Webbox is a sleek, black, 14 x 25cm QWERTY keyboard. Webbox plugs into TV with no set-up required, converting any standard domestic television into an internet portal.
Current smartphones already allow instant photo sharing over social networks-- something digital cameras generally don't. Consumers will soon be expecting this functionality from their digital cameras, alongside instant interfacing with any devices used to store, share, manage and print their photos.
The $40m OnLive investment is, no doubt, to speed up development into cloud-based on demand mobile content. OnLive already has an iPad and Android tablet app out-- one that only allows users to spectate ongoing games.
