Best Buy, Inc. (NYSE: BBY) wants to make the U.S. consumer believe that the e-reader is the "must-have" gadget of this holiday season. To that end, the nation's largest consumer electronics retailer has launched a special website (not active yet, apparently) where it will make the e-reader category and associated gadgets headliners of this holiday season's gift giving.It's more than just Best Buy believing this. Analyst firms like iSuppli are behind the agenda as well. Best Buy's holiday gadget selection will feature more than 120 products priced between $25 and $75, with brands like Sony, Leapfrog and Sharper Image.
Is Best Buy trying to take on the Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN)'s Kindle e-reader? Of course. But the Kindle is like Apple, Inc.'s (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPhone: in a category by itself and leading the market by a huge margin. Why even bother then, Best Buy?
Just like any follower, Best Buy wants to cash in on the buzz of an e-reader more than anything. It will be incredibly difficult for any device to take on the Kindle (at any price), but incremental sales of other e-reader products will certainly happen.
Here's a thought, Best Buy: although Amazon.com is a direct competitor, strike an agreement to sell the Kindle (with a small cut of each sale) through whatever means to get traffic in your door (in stores only, for example) and cash in on the hype. Could this be done? With a little out-of-the-box thinking, sure.
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