Some top PC makers are upset about Best Buy’s recent expansion of a service that lets customers reduce the amount of third-party software installed on new computers. Software companies pay HP, Dell and others hundreds of millions of dollars a year to install trial versions of their programs for virus protection, photo editing and the like on new computers; PC makers get another check if buyers sign up to keep using them. Best Buy lets customers select just one antivirus program, say, and removes alternative products.

The retailer’s executives say they are simply responding to customer complaints that their new machines are overloaded and sluggish. But PC makers are concerned the retailer is trying to grab more of their scant profit pool. (full article here)

If Best Buy continues to stomp out the profit margins of its computer suppliers, we can be sure the selection – and especially the quality – will diminish.