Pulse2 Technology and Social Media News » Best Buy

Best Buy CEO Brian Dunn Resigns During Probe Of “Personal Conduct”

Amit Chowdhry — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 21:27:24 +0000

Best Buy CEO Brian Dunn has resigned abruptly. The resignation happened amid a board probe into his personal conduct. “Certain issues were brought to the board’s attention regarding Mr. Dunn’s personal conduct, unrelated to the company’s operations or financial controls, and an audit committee investigation was initiated. Prior to the completion of the investigation, Mr. Dunn chose to resign,” stated Claire Koeneman of H+K Strategies and a spokeswoman for Best Buy.

Best Buy board member G. Mike Mikan was named interim CEO while a search for Dunn starts.

“I have enjoyed every one of my 28 years with this company, and I leave it today in position for a strong future. I am proud of my fellow employees and I wish them the best,” said Dunn in the company statement.

Best Buy Selling Almost As Many iPhones As Apple Stores

Amit Chowdhry — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 19:16:05 +0000

Back in 2008, Apple started selling the iPhone at Best Buy retail stores. About 600 out of the 1,100 Best Buy stores have an Apple products section. These Apple sections in Best Buy stores account for 13% of all Apple iPhone sales while the Apple retail stores account for 15% of all iPhone sales. This data was crunched by Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP).

The company surveyed iPhone buyers between December 2011-February 2012. Retail stores as a whole accounted for 76% of all iPhone sales. AT&T retail stores account for 32%, Verizon at 30%, and Sprint at 7%.

“Apple Stores and the Apple Web site are tremendously productive, but they are limited by their relatively small retail footprint,” stated CIRP’s Josh Lowitz in an interview with AllThingsD. “There are four times as many Best Buy stores, and probably 20 times as many AT&T, Verizon, and Sprint stores, so aggressive distribution through all these channels is critical to Apple’s U.S. strategy.”

Leaked Photo Reveals Upcoming iPhone Sale at Best Buy

Riley Kennysmith — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 18:04:20 +0000

A photo has leaked of a Best Buy ad that offers an iPhone 3GS free with 2-year activation. The ad says the offer will only be available on Monday, August 22nd. As Business Insider notes, this could be part of a storewide sale of phones, or it could be a way to clear inventory and make room for the iPhone 5. [image via TechnoBuffalo]

Intellectual Ventures Suing 13 Companies for Patent Infringement

Riley Kennysmith — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 17:15:01 +0000

Intellectual Ventures is suing a group of companies for patent infringement. Companies being sued include Acer, Adata Technology, Asustek Computer, Best Buy, Dell, Elpida Memory, Hewlett Packard, Hynix Semiconductor, Kingston Technology, Logitech International, Pantech and Wal-Mart. According to TechCrunch, the patents deal with memory technology and methods.

Intellectual Ventues brought another patent suit against nine other companies last year. Intellectual Ventures is headed by Nathan Myhrvold, former CTO at Microsoft.

Best Buy Fires Roger Kline For Tackling Thief

Amit Chowdhry — Sun, 08 May 2011 10:09:30 +0000

When a thief runs away with a stolen good, generally employees are not supposed to physically attack them. Especially when companies could be sued for assault. Fifty-one year old Montana Best Buy employee Roger Kline was recently fired after he grabbed a hold of a thief that was about to walk out of the store with two computers and thew him to the ground. Clearly Kline is morally right for doing that, but Best Buy ended up firing him. [Gizmodo]

Motorola Xoom Available For Pre-Order On Feb. 24 At Best Buy

Amit Chowdhry — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 05:36:27 +0000

The Motorola Xoom 3G will be available for pre-order this Thursday February 24, 2011 for $800 at Best Buy. Some of the accessories you can buy that complement the device include a portfolio case ($40), a charging dock ($50), a stereo speaker dock ($130), and a Bluetooth keyboard ($70). [Best Buy via Engadget]

HTC Thunderbolt Coming To Verizon and Best Buy On Feb. 24th [RUMOR]

Amit Chowdhry — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 23:41:11 +0000

The HTC Thunderbolt mobile phone will be coming to Verizon and Best Buy retail locations on February 24th. It will run on Verizon’s 4G LTE network and is rumored to be at a $200 price with contract. Just as a refresher, specs of the Thunderbolt are: 4.3-inch WVGA screen, 1GHz Snapdragon CPU, mobile hotspot capabilities, Android 2.2 operating system, 32GB microSD card, HTC Sense 2.0 user interface, Dolby/SRS surround sound, Skype, built-in kickstand, 720p HD video recording and DLNA streaming multimedia support.

Grand Rapids Best Buy Store Slips On The Launch Dates For HTC Thunderbolt and Motorola Xoom Tablet

Amit Chowdhry — Fri, 04 Feb 2011 22:07:02 +0000

A Best Buy retail store in Grand Rapids, Michigan has accidentally slipped on the release dates for the HTC Thunderbolt and the Motorola Xoom tablet. The HTC Thunderbolt is expected to arrive in stores on February 14th and the Motorola Xoom tablet on February 24th. The page has been deleted since. [Droid Life]

AT&T To Change Around Text Messaging Plans [RUMOR]

Amit Chowdhry — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 22:26:50 +0000

A leaked Best Buy document reveals two new AT&T text messaging plans. Going forward AT&T will be offering 1,000 text messages for $10 per month and $0.10 for each additional message and unlimited text messages for $20 per month. The $5/200 and $15/1500 text message plans are expected to go away. If you are already on one of these plans, it is likely that you can keep them or switch to one of the aforementioned plans above.

Best Buy’s Buy Back Program Details

Amit Chowdhry — Mon, 03 Jan 2011 22:15:16 +0000

We are still gathering details about the Best Buy “Buy Back” program, but BoyGeniusReport has provided some insight about what to expect. Consumers can participate in the Buy Back program by paying $59.99 at the time of buying a phone. Then between 1 and 6 months of owning the phone, you can trade in the device back to Best Buy for 50% of the phone’s full retail value.

Between 6 and 12 months, you will get 40% of its original value. Between 12 and 18 months, you will get 40% of its original value. And between months 19 and 25, you will get 20%. The best part is that this deal is beyond just mobile devices. It will also include other consumer electronics.

[BoyGeniusReport]