Just a few weeks after speculation that Best Buy Co. (NYSE: BBY) may be on the lookout for buying up video game retailer Gamestop Corp. (NYSE: GME), the CFO of the largest consumer electronics company in the U.S. is now saying that the used video game industry is "strategically very interesting." This is sly-speak for "we're on the prowl for the acquisition in the space that makes the best sense."

Best Buy, Inc. (NYSE: BBY) shares were downgraded by Goldman Sachs from Buy to Neutral this week. Analyst Matthew Fassler indicated that Best Buy would continue to see increased pressure from online retailers, as well as mass discounters like Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT), which continues to upgrade its consumer electronics assortment and brand selection.

On the Wal-Mart front, the largest retailer in the world still is vastly inferior to Best Buy in terms of brand selection, assortment and even pricing -- so Fassler may be calling this a little too early. In the flat-panel television and PC categories, for example, Best Buy continually outshines Wal-Mart in just about every way from this writer's chair. Perhaps Wal-Mart will get better. Target Corp. (NYSE: TGT), on the other hand, is nowhere close to either Best Buy or Wal-Mart.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) has been improving its consumer electronics sections in stores for some time now as a way to better compete with national retailer Best Buy, Inc. (NYSE: BBY). Best Buy has, from what I have seen, been way more aggressive in laptop PC pricing for at least a year.

Best Buy Co. (NYSE: BBY) has seen some success in its Canadian stores in selling used video games. Due to that, used video games may come to U.S. stores this year, opening up a new avenue for foot traffic into the largest consumer electronics retailer in the U.S. Why rent video games when you can purchase them at heavy discounts?

When the Napster brand woke up the music industry using illegal downloading almost a decade ago by allowing digital music swapping across the internet, a completely new cottage industry was born. Pretty shortly, Apple, Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) came long with its iPod and iTunes product and made the business model work for legally downloading music. On that note, Apple has the lion's share of music downloading business at this time, although many a competitor has cropped up in the last five years.

Best Buy, Inc. (NYSE: BBY) is leading the way in sales of movies and other content on the surging Blu-ray format. Ever since the competing high-definition format HD-DVD went defunct in 2007, Blu-ray has steadily climbed into the driver's seat of disc-based content sales. While traditional DVD sales still dwarf Blu-ray sales, the high-def format is gaining sold ground. With it, Best Buy has become the format's best friend.

Best Buy, Inc. (NYSE: BBY) won the war with defunct rival Circuit City. Circuit City's demise was based on so many fundamental pieces of mismanagement it was amazing the company lasted into 2009. Now that it is gone, Best Buy stands alone with the larger discount retail chains and online superstores as the places tens of millions of Americans shop for this consumer electronics.

Consumer electronics retailer Best Buy Inc. (NYSE: BBY) is starting to find out that many consumers don't necessarily want to own movies on DVD any longer. In fact, DVD sales have been floundering and the replacement format, Blu-ray, still has a long way to go in order to catch up with the standard DVD format.

When Best Buy, Inc. (NYSE: BBY) said during the recent holiday season that it was a very tough time in the retail industry, many believed it. Just a few short months later, the largest consumer electronics retailer in the U.S. went on to have a decent quarter in the midst of the current recession -- due in part to the vanishing of its largest direct competitor, Circuit City Stores.

Although consumer electronics retailer Best Buy, Inc. (NYSE: BBY) reported decent results during its latest quarter, the addition of sales from Circuit City's demise may be hiding inside those results. You can't just banish billions in quarterly revenue to nowhere, and when Circuit City folded for good last month, many retailers were still swimming in the sales wake left behind.

Best Buy, Inc. (NYSE: BBY) won't be entering into the United Kingdom this year, even after entering into a lucrative (at the time) partnership with the UK's Carphone Warehouse in mid-2008. The UK's Financial Times indicated that a launch may come in the first quarter of 2010, but between now and then, anything could change.

Best Buy, Inc. (NYSE: BBY) has been hurting like most retailers in the face of the U.S. and global economic crisis, but the only silver lining that it may have seen recently has been the collapse and liquidation of its largest competitor, Circuit City. Best Buy will now have one less competitor in the marketplace, but is also seeing increased focus by the large mass merchants on the consumer electronics side of merchandising.

Facing that, the largest consumer electronics retailer in the U.S. will need to be more creative in attracting the right customer at the right time and converting as many shoppers to buyers as possible. As a result, Best Buy has joined up with consumer behavior marketer Omniture to help it understand the metrics that convert as many consumers in the consumer electronics market to Best Buy purchasers.

When Best Buy, Inc. (NYSE: BBY) announced that CEO Brad Anderson would retire this summer, the obvious choice to replace him was current COO and President Brian Dunn. After all, Dunn is a Best Buy vet and has had a hand in making Best Buy the top consumer electronics retailer in the U.S. With Anderson and Dunn running the show, Best Buy rose past every competitor and held the larger mass merchants at bay.

The retailer has not had an easy time with the recent consumer spending slowdown, but its fundamentals are very solid and it retains a competitive advantage. Consumers continue spending money at Best Buy, and voting with dollars is a sign of success. Dunn will face one of the hardest times in Best Buy's history since consumers have tightened their collective purse strings. Still, he is the right pick and Best Buy's long-term future continues to be very bright, the current retail malaise not withstanding.

Best Buy, Inc. (NYSE: BBY) may be the initial retail partner to carry what is turning out to be a the most talked-about wireless handset since the iPhone made its debut over two years ago. The Palm, Inc. (NASDAQ:PALM) Palm Pre, which will initially only be available on the Sprint Nextel Corp. (NYSE: S) network, will benefit immensely from finding the right retail partner to boost sales.

So far, it's too hard to tell how well the Pre will do against the iPhone and other handsets based on Windows Mobile or Android -- but early previews are encouraging. The Pre packs a decent amount of horsepower with one slick design -- and it would be amusing to see it marketed alongside the iPhone at Best Buy. Best Buy was also the first retailer partner to be able and sell the iPhone last September, so scoring the Pre would be another win for the retailer.

Can the Pre save Palm from oblivion? That's hard to imagine, but this single product launch is probably the most important in the history of the company. Without a knockout product that sells like gangbusters, Palm may not have much left in its intellectual or technological arsenal. It's a big gamble, but a gamble, the company must make. Best Buy's large hand in the Pre's upcoming sales will be a huge boon to both Palm and Sprint.