Will Best Buy's China plans rescue profit?

With Best Buy (NYSE: BBY) planning to open eight to 10 new stores in China, will this international growth help ignite more sales and, more importantly, more profit? The largest consumer electronics retailer in the U.S. reported a disappointing quarter just this week, and even though the consumer electronics industry as a whole is seeing the same kind of performance, Best Buy didn't come close to measuring up to the latest profit expectations.

At the same time, the retailer is expanding its presence in China and wants to be a dominant consumer electronics player in that market as the Chinese consumer economy continues to expand at a rapid pace. But, make no mistake -- this strategy is not meant to be a short-term profit-boost solution. Best Buy is in this for the long haul, and it has to be. Industry watchers who think "turning on stores" in China and the recognition of immediate sales and profits will be a simple task are not looking at the whole picture.

As usual, though, this won't please the immediate gratification-obsessed Wall Streeters who look for growth every single quarter and go nuts if there isn't any (or if it's slow). Sometimes long-term plans are way more important than playing a business to the fiddle of every quarterly period. In fact, I would say long-term plans are the only plans most companies should set up. Business models with short-term strategies can be set up for failure easily, and then that can lead to cooking the books and other shenanigans that get companies into trouble. Maybe that's the way Wall Street wants it.