Best Buy to scale back its big-box stores

Best Buy told analysts Thursday the company plans to open hundreds of smaller mobile specialty stores, double its online sales, expand in China, and shrink its big-box stores in the U.S.

The consumer electronics retailer says it will expand online-only selection of goods because that's where more and more customers are shopping, said Best Buy CEO Brian Dunn.

"The online channel is our largest growth opportunity, based on our plans to accelerate this business and the growth of the channel itself," said Dunn.

The news came after many investors had raised concerns about the retailer's huge overhead costs and oversized stores, at a time when many shoppers go online to buy electronic gadgets.

Best Buy has been losing sales to Walmart, Amazon.com and other rivals. But Dunn said the he's confident the company will maintain its dominance of consumer electronics.

"Over the years, again and again, we've navigated rapidly shifting landscapes, out-flanked competitors who supposedly had the resources or strategies to make us irrelevant, and disproved the opinions of nay-sayers who theorize that we'd be unable to adapt and survive," Dunn said.

Best Buy plans to expand its online-only selection and hit $4 billion in online sales in the U.S. within three to five years. In China, Best Buy expects to add 400 to 500 stores and doubling revenue to $4 billion within five years.