Pakistanis angry over detentions in Times Sq. case Monday, May 24, 2010
ISLAMABAD – Relatives of three men detained by Pakistan for alleged links to the suspect in the attempted Times Square bombing say the men are innocent.
They
AFP - Thursday, August 6TAIPEI (AFP) - - Taiwan's Beijing-friendly government on Wednesday denied boycotting an Australian film festival amid a row over the e
BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel suffered a double blow on Thursday as a senior party ally in east German
Minister seeks closure of anti-Berlusconi websites Wednesday, December 16, 2009
ROME (AFP) - – The Italian government moved Tuesday to close down Internet sites encouraging further violence against Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who
By ELAINE KURTENBACH,AP Business Writer AP - Wednesday, March 18SHANGHAI - Asia's stock market rally seemed to be running out of steam Wednesday, despite an
My Profile
Top News
Reuters top ten news stories delivered to your inbox each day.
Subscribe
You are here:
Home
>
News
>
Technology
>
Article
Home
Business & Finance
News
U.S.
Politics
International
Technology
Internet
Entertainment
Sports
Lifestyle
Oddly Enough
Health
Science
Special Coverage
Video
Pictures
Your View
The Great Debate
Blogs
Weather
Reader Feedback
Do More With Reuters
RSS
Widgets
Mobile
Podcasts
Newsletters
Your View
Make Reuters My Homepage
Partner Services
CareerBuilder
Affiliate Network
Professional Products
Support (Customer Zone)
Reuters Media
Financial Products
About Thomson Reuters
U.S. back-to-school; Wal-Mart woos laptop shoppers
Thu Jul 23, 2009 5:32am EDT
Email | Print |
Share
| Reprints | Single Page
[-]
Text
[+]
By Nicole Maestri
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Wal-Mart Stores Inc has expanded its laptop selection by 40 percent and will be aggressive in pricing the computers and the accessories to go with them as the discount retailer looks to win sales from frugal back-to-school shoppers.
Starting this Sunday, Wal-Mart will begin selling an exclusive Compaq Presario notebook computer that it developed in partnership with Hewlett-Packard Co for $298. A similar unit currently sells at Wal-Mart for $548.
"We think that that's a screaming value," said Gary Severson, Wal-Mart U.S.'s senior vice president of home entertainment, in an interview. "You're going to see us focus dramatically not only on price, but the value for that price."
The Presario notebook will be selling at a price that would normally purchase a less-capable netbook laptop.
Retailers have started the back-to-school shopping season on shaky ground as consumers show an unwillingness to spend on anything but basic goods.
According to a National Retail Federation survey, the average family with children in kindergarten through 12th grade plans to spend 7.7 percent less on school gear this year than a year ago.
One bright spot in the survey was consumer electronics, where students plan to spend more. In addition, nearly 75 percent of respondents said they intend to shop at a discount stores for their new school purchases.
Wal-Mart is looking at the back-to-school season as a chance to showcase its expanded selection of notebook and netbook computers, with Severson saying laptops are becoming a staple item for students of all ages.
"We think that this year is really the opportunity for us to establish in laptops," Severson said.
To gain leadership, Wal-Mart is following tactics it used to become a major player in flat screen TVs -- expanding its selection of name brands while trying to beat the competition on price.
DELL LAPTOPS IN PINK AND AQUA
Wal-Mart has already started its back-to-school push in earnest and is offering Dell Inspiron laptops for $398 in colors ranging from pink to purple to aqua.
The retailer also stocked accessories to match the colorful laptops, like $60 Western Digital hard drives and $25 Logitech cordless optical mice in black, blue, pink and red.
Wal-Mart said the Dell offering was a popular one, and it expects a similar response for the Compaq Presario that goes on sale July 26. It will have 3 gigabytes of memory, a 160 gigabyte hard drive, and it will come pre-loaded with Microsoft Corp's Windows Vista operating system.
On Sunday, Wal-Mart will also cut the price of an Acer laptop with an 8-hour battery by $50 to $548. The computer has 3 gigabytes of memory, a 320 gigabyte hard drive and qualifies for a free upgrade to the Windows 7 operating system when it is released. Continued...
View article on single page
Share:
Del.icio.us
Digg
Mixx
Yahoo!
Facebook
LinkedIn
Next Article:
US back-to-school; Wal-Mart woos laptop shoppers
also on reuters
Blog: Immigrants: the new, high-tech entrepreneurs
Plastic surgery popular despite economic woes: poll
Commentary: Where the healthcare debate is bizarre
More Technology News
Microsoft releases Windows 7 code to PC makers
Amazon.com buying shoe seller Zappos for $928 million
Verizon Wireless proposes roaming rule change
Mobile gadgets threaten in-flight entertainment
Yahoo buys photo organization tech company Xoopit
More Technology News...
Editor's Choice
Slideshow
A selection of our best photos from the past 24 hours. Slideshow
Most Popular on Reuters
Articles
Video
Suspicious motorbike destroyed at Thai security meet
Bin Laden son thought killed in U.S. drone strike: NPR
Amazon.com buying shoe seller Zappos for $928 million
Spiderman director takes on "World of Warcraft" movie
Actor Stephen Baldwin files for bankruptcy in NY
Obama says healthcare overhaul needed to curb deficits | Video
Obama: Police acted "stupidly" arresting black scholar
Bristol-Myers to buy Medarex for $2.4 billion
WRAPUP 6-Honduras rulers reject world pressure to reverse coup
U.S. back-to-school; Wal-Mart woos laptop shoppers
Most Popular Articles RSS Feed
Video
Obama defends healthcare plans
Obama's first six months
Casualties of Afghanistan
Solar eclipse wows Asia
Agents raid Jackson doctor's clinic
Obama hosts Maliki
Dancing babies top viral video chart
Baboon gang raid visitors' luggage
Astronauts at work
Police raid Jackson doctor
Most Popular Videos RSS Feed
We want to hear from you
Join the Reuters Consumer Insight Panel and help us get to know you better
Please take a moment to complete our survey
Reuters.com:
Help and Contact Us |
Advertise With Us |
Mobile |
Newsletters |
RSS |
Labs |
Archive |
Site Index |
Video Index
Thomson Reuters Corporate:
Copyright |
Disclaimer |
Privacy |
Professional Products |
Professional Products Support |
About Thomson Reuters |
Careers
International Editions:
Africa |
Arabic |
Argentina |
Brazil |
Canada |
China |
France |
Germany |
India |
Italy |
Japan |
Latin America |
Mexico |
Russia |
Spain |
United Kingdom |
United States
Thomson Reuters is the world's largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters.com, video, mobile, and interactive television platforms. Thomson Reuters journalists are subject to an Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests.
NYSE and AMEX quotes delayed by at least 20 minutes. Nasdaq delayed by at least 15 minutes. For a complete list of exchanges and delays, please click here.