[ # ] Best Buy says: Console sales = higher revenue; Console sales = lower profit;

/* Posted June 23rd, 2008 at 3:13pm */
/* Filed under News */

For the fiscal quarter ending May 31, Best Buy revenue was up by over a billion dollars compared to last year. Normally that would be good news, but this year it’s something of a mixed blessing.

The problem isn’t so much the amount of money they brought in as what was selling. While they had some success selling items like PCs and flat panel TVs, the big story was video games.

In addition to the record setting performance of Grand Theft Auto IV, increased inventory of the still popular Wii helped fuel sales.

â€œGross margin should remain under pressure as the mix to gaming and PCs continue as well as increasing pressure from discounters,â€ Pali Capital analyst Stacey Widlitz wrote in a note to clients yesterday, before earnings were released. â€œWe believe the competitive landscape will continue to move in the wrong direction.â€