Best Buy Hit by Holiday Sales Slump

"We were surprised by the market decline," said Best Buy CEO Hubert Joly, during a teleconference with analysts. "Everybody expected it to increase by 2 percent or 3 percent, but it declined by 2 percent." The electronics retailer also blamed aggressive sales from competitors, "supply constraints for key products" and fewer customers during the key week leading up to Christmas. Joly identified those key products as tablets and iPhones. Disappointing cell phone sales contributed to the 0.8 percent decline in same-store sales during the 2013 holiday season.