You already know Best Buy sells all the latest tech products. Did you know we make some of them, too?
We manufacture hundreds of unique products —from cellphone cases to smart TVs — under our five private-label brands: Insignia, Rocketfish, Platinum, Modal and Dynex. And we’ve been doing it for 15 years this month!
These products are only sold at Best Buy, providing great value for our customers. We don’t just slap our name on another company’s products. We have a team of 200 employees in Asia and North America that handles every step of the process, from generating ideas to engineering to production and packaging.
Here’s a quick look at 15 noteworthy private-label products from Best Buy’s Exclusive Brands through the years.
1. Dynex RF Modulator
Best Buy’s first branded product was this device that allowed older TVs without audio/visual jacks to connect to newer components. And it proved to have staying power, as we still sell an RF modulator (now under the Insignia brand).
2. Insignia TVs
Launched in September 2005, our first Insignia televisions provided an affordable solution for newly introduced LCD technology. We now offer a wide selection of Insignia TVs, including 4K models, in a variety of sizes that provide great value for our customers.
3. Rocketfish HDMI Cables
Rocketfish is our top-selling brand of HDMI cables and among our most popular private-label products.
4. 115-Can Beverage Cooler
Best Buy’s foray into the beverage category in Sept. 2016, this was one of the first beverage coolers in the industry to truly provide appropriate beverage temperatures instead of simply renaming a wine cooler that couldn’t get beer and soda cold enough. (We also launched Insignia kegerators in October 2015.)
5. Geek Squad Flash Drive (8GB)
This was the first flash drive to include an integrated cap that wouldn’t get lost. No wonder it scored us our first prestigious Red Dot Design Award.
6. Twister Cable
We created this cellphone charger with built-in cable management to help reduce clutter. We were awarded a patent for the design.
7. Lightning cables
We were among the first third-party manufacturers to produce lightning cables for charging iPhones and iPads, and we were the first to market with a lightning car charger in January 2013. We now sell more of these chargers than any other brand on Best Buy shelves.
8. Insignia Portable DVD Player
Introduced in May 2007, this product used Blue Shirt insights from real customers in its design. It included three headphone jacks, so multiple family members could watch the same movie while traveling. Plus, we covered it with a rubberized coating to make it water-resistant and easy to clean. It was another Red Dot Design Award winner.
9. Insignia Refrigerators
At Best Buy, we’re committed to helping our customers live more sustainably. So, we’re proud that Insignia had seven refrigerator models named ENERGY STAR Most Efficient products in 2017.
10. Insignia 13.8cf Wi-Fi Connected Convertible Fridge/Freezer
Customers view the food stored in a secondary freezer as an investment, and when something goes wrong, they lose that investment. This product — the industry’s first connected freezer — addresses that problem by alerting the user to a power outage or open door via text notification.
11. Rocketfish Wireless Rear Speaker Kit
The first wireless rear speaker kit that works with any A/V receiver brand, it provides high-quality audio with a wireless range of 100 feet. We still sell this product today under the Insignia Brand, so you can lose the wires, not the performance.
12. Cellphone cases
Our first handset-specific case was for Palm Treo 650, which launched in October 2007. In recent years, we’ve supported every major iPhone and Samsung phone launch, with about 60 different cases currently in our product offerings.
13. Insignia Wi-Fi Smart Plug
This smart plug allows customers to easily and conveniently turn lights on and off from a smartphone app. At $24.99, it lowered the barrier to entry for smart home technology. (Plus, it’s among very few brands that works with Amazon Alexa, Google Home and Apple HomeKit.)
14. Gaming accessories
We first entered this product category with a pair of Init-branded cases for the Sony PSP in 2005. The Init brand no longer exists, but we have created accessories for every major console launched since then.
15. Licensed and co-developed products
In addition to creating our own Exclusive Brands products, we’re now using our expertise to help other national brands bring products to market in a variety of categories through licensing and co-development partnerships. (Sorry, our agreements prevent us from disclosing names.)
Go to BestBuy.com or stop by your local store to see our wide variety of private-label products.