Best Buy Targeting 5G, Healthcare, Executives Say
The potential of 5G gives Best Buy confidence to “continue to try different vectors” of new businesses, in addition to the healthcare services offering for seniors it began last year with its $800 million GreatCall buy (see 1808150071), CEO Corie…
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
If your job depends on informed compliance, you need International Trade Today. Delivered every business day and available any time online, only International Trade Today helps you stay current on the increasingly complex international trade regulatory environment.
Barry told her company’s investor day conference last week (see 1909260030). “You can’t always see what’s coming next,” she said. “Everyone conventionally” thinks about 5G as a “mobile phone technology,” said Barry. It “will actually increase the pipe that goes into your home,” creating a “whole new suite of products that will serve that particular source,” she said. “We’ll continue to try some of the different product areas.” Under “past” thinking, “we may have simply looked at the core retail technology products aimed at seniors and quantified that as the addressable market,” said Barry. “If we expanded that definition to include the services more geared around health and safety,” the market “more than doubles,” she said. “Think urgent response, fall detection, concierge help.” Best Buy Health President Asheesh Saksena said the goal is to reach 5 million seniors through remote monitoring and other services by the fiscal year ending February 2025, vs. 1 million now. It aims to “bring technology” into the home "at scale,” said Saksena.