Apple Inc. (AAPL): Samsung, Best Buy Co., Inc. (BBY) Team to Fight This Tech Giant

Who’s worrying?

Yes, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) should be worried. With 53% of the U.S. smartphone market and almost 70% of the tablet market, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has a lot to defend. Samsung going big has got to worry the Cupertino company. With 390 Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) stores around the world, Samsung is going to install two or three times as many locations as Apple in the next three or four months. It’s going to be a challenge.

But the smaller smartphone makers should be even more worried. Research in Motion Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) and Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) will both be in trouble if the new Samsung shops gain market traction. The best advantage the two will have is that both are trying to focus on the business community and enterprisewide sales, instead of retail sales. Whether that will be enough to keep either company from being hammered remains to be seen.

The weakness of the plan

The biggest headache for Samsung in partnering with Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY) is … well … Best Buy. Shares in Best Buy have jumped a bit on the news of the partnering, but that doesn’t really offset the fact that the firm has been on an unprofitable slide for several years. Is Best Buy the firm that a successful giant like Samsung wants to be tied to? We’ll have to see whether the bump in price for Best Buy is one of those media-driven things, or a real sign of a turnaround.

Nate Wooley has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Amazon.com, Apple, and Google. The Motley Fool owns shares of Amazon.com, Apple, Google, and Microsoft.