Content about electronics

MINNEAPOLIS — Store closures and a shift in this year’s Super Bowl affected Best Buy’s results for the 13-week period ended May 4. 

FORT WORTH, Texas — RadioShack has partnered with Maker Media, the creators of Make Magazine, Makezine.com, and Maker Faire, to tap into the DIY market. Maker Media and RadioShack will collaborate on an expansive DIY product lineup, exclusively carried at RadioShack and Maker Shed, including kits, robotics and tools.

RadioShack is courting the college market and has entered into a five-year agreement with NACSCORP, a subsidiary of the National Association of College Stores.

Under the agreement, the retailer will offer an assortment of consumer electronics and accessories to the nearly 4,000 college store customers NACSCORP currently serves.

MINNEAPOLIS — Best Buy is leaving the European market. The company is selling its stake in a joint European venture with U.K.-based consumer electronics retailer Carphone Warehouse Group PLC for cash and stock worth about $775 million USD.
 
Best Buy Co. will also pay Carphone 29 million pounds (about $45 million) related to existing agreements that will be terminated when the deal closes. The U.S. retailer also said that it will incur an approximately $200 million asset impairment charge related to the stake sale.
 

FORT WORTH, Texas — RadioShack is teaming up with Beats By Dr. Dre, the popular brand of headphones and HD sound systems, on a new advertising campaign featuring recording artist Robin Thicke's hit single "Blurred Lines" and the Beats by Dr. Dre Pill portable Bluetooth speaker.
 
The 30-second commercial ties into a special in-store offer that will allow RadioShack customers and music fans to download an exclusive remix of "Blurred Lines" with the purchase of any qualifying product.
 

ATLANTA — Aaron's, a lease-to-own retailer specializing in the sales and lease ownership of residential furniture, consumer electronics, home appliances and accessories, has named David L. Buck as its new COO.
 
The company’s current COO, Ken Butler, 60, will retire May 1, after 39 years. Butler will also resign from the board of directors.
 

FORT WORTH, Texas — RadioShack has stocked its shelves at locations nationwide with HTC's most recent flagship smartphone, the HTC One.

To celebrate the launch, RadioShack will give a $50 Google Play credit to anyone who buys the smartphone at one of their participating locations by June 1. Consumers can also take advantage of the company's Trade & Save Program, which allows them to trade-in their old phones for as much as $300 toward the new phone and accessories, depending on the phone model. 

SAN DIEGO — Sony Electronics is expanding its retail footprint by opening three newly remodeled Sony Stores and several brand new Sony Gallery experiences. The company also unveiled a smaller-store format called Sony Gallery.

Following the debut of the redesigned Sony Store in the Simon Mall Stanford Shopping Center in Palo Alto, Calif., Sony announced it will open three new concept stores located in Miami, San Diego, and Orlando, Fla. The remodels will bring the total of U.S. redesigned stores to eight.

ROUND ROCK, Texas — Dell OEM Solutions announced that it has worked with Microsoft Corp. to become a global distributor, outsource manufacturer and integrator for Windows Embedded products.

The agreement, which went into effect on April 1, enables Dell to provide Windows Embedded product licenses (COAs) with Dell product solutions. This means it is easier for Dell OEM Solutions customers to bring their products and solutions to market through:

• Shorter lead times with in-stock COAs

First it was RadioSchack and now Target has ended another electronics initiative with Best Buy.

Target and Best Buy confirmed earlier this week that they agreed to end a partnership begun last August that involved Target offering Best Buy’s Geek Squad services at 29 stores in Minneapolis and Denver. Earlier this year, Target ended a more extensive relationship with RadioShack that involved

RICHARDSON, Texas — Best Buy has partnered with Samsung Electronics to install Samsung Experience Shops in more than 1,400 Best Buy and Best Buy Mobile specialty stores across the United States beginning this month. By early May, 900 Best Buy and Best Buy Mobile specialty stores will feature the Samsung Experience Shop, with the remainder launching by early summer.

NEW YORK — More than half of consumers believe that apps are not expensive, according to a new survey by consulting firm Simon-Kucher & Partners. 

“It takes a long time to upgrade free users to the paid product and app makers need to strike a better balance between free and paid offerings. It needs more time and management attention to get right.”