Xbox 360 Aids Best Buy Growth

[Nato King]

Analysts say Best Buy's successful Q4 may have been aided by Xbox 360, despite shortages.

Analyst Alan Rifkin from Lehman Brothers Holdings said, "Despite limited console availability, we believe that Xbox 360 boosted growth as traffic trends benefited from the excitement generated by the new product."

The retailer says its sales were boosted by the popularity of flat-panel televisions, MP3 players and notebook computers.

Income was up to $644 million. Sales increased 16 percent to $10.7 billion, the biggest gain in two years. Best Buy's annual profits were up to 1.14 billion with sales up 12 percent to $30 billion. Comparable store sales rose 7.3 percent.

Analyst Scott Mlynek said, "The strength of the digital product cycle is lifting all boats, but it's lifting Best Buy more because they have the service offering and they're a better-run company.''

[l Maximus l]

There's no question that XBox/XBox 360 has encouraged the purchase of flat pannel TVs...I own an HDTV mainly because of the first XBox. I'm even looking to purchase a plasma in the next few months because of the 360.