Add Best Buy to the cacophony of voices calling for Apple CEO Tim Cook to develop and release some new products. The consumer electronics retailer, which these days is marketing itself as the “ultimate showroom,” reported earnings this morning. They weren’t terrible: Sales growth declined, but at its slowest pace in about two years. Still, Best Buy’s shares have tanked in pre-market trading after the company warned that sales from its existing stores open for at least a year would decline in the “low single digits” for the next two quarters. It’s an industry-wide issue. Here is CFO Sharon McCollam explaining why:
We are expecting to see ongoing industry-wide sales declines in many of the consumer electronics categories in which we compete. We are also expecting ongoing softness in the mobile phone category as consumers eagerly await highly anticipated new product launches.
No specific mention of Apple, but few electronics makers drive sales as much as Apple does. The rumor mill suggests the next iPhone will be out in the US in autumn.