The world’s largest electronics chain by revenue said it would close 50 big-box stores this year, test remodeled store formats in San Antonio and Minneapolis, and lay off 400 corporate and support workers as part of a plan to trim $800 million in costs and restructure its ailing business.

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The world’s largest electronics retailer by sales issued its strategic plan in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday ahead of its annual investor day. Best Buy, which reiterated its fiscal 2012 outlook, said it hopes to double its current $2 billion online business within three to five years and expects a 10% reduction in U.S. “big box” store square footage in the same timeframe.

The company also said it’s aiming to operate 600 to 800 Best Buy Mobile stand-alone stores in the U.S. within five years.

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Once you’re there, you’ll see that “Black Friday” is the day’s Promoted Trend. And if you click on the term, you’ll see that Target has purchased the phrase for the day. Which means that anyone who clicks through will see this ad/Tweet:

And then lots of other Twitter chatter about Target.

Don’t know what Target paid for the privilege, but it seems like a reasonably good way to deploy marketing money.

Except! Scan down the list of the day’s other top trends–the phrases that Twitter doesn’t sell, but are based on whatever Twitterers are Tweeting about–and you’ll see that Wal-Mart makes the list, too. How’d that happen?

Twitter PR tells me that “Walmart=organic.” Which is pretty funny to type, but not exactly true.

Because I’m pretty sure the reason that Wal-Mart is a trending topic today is that Justin Bieber, who has more than six million followers on Twitter, Tweeted about it:

So that’s not the same as “Wal-Mart” simply bubbling up because lots of Twitter users are talking about it without prompting.

There’s almost certainly a commercial relationship between Bieber (or, more likely, Universal Music Group, his label) and Wal-Mart. And that’s why Bieber (or, more likely, someone he pays to type out Tweets) is Tweeting about Wal-Mart instead of Target or Best Buy or… what other stores still sell music these days?

But since Twitter itself isn’t making money off  the transaction, the Twitter folks can count it as “organic.”

Question for another time: If Justin Bieber–or his label, or Wal-Mart–is going to use Twitter to advertise goods and services, why doesn’t Twitter make money from that?

“We anticipate being able to have the iPad later this year,” he said, declining to offer further details.

Wal-Mart (WMT) already sells the iPhone and iPod, so it’s not much of a stretch to imagine the company peddling the iPad. Nor is it difficult to imagine Apple (AAPL) wanting its newest device on the shelves of the world’s biggest retailer. That said, Apple already has one big iPad retail partner in the U.S., Best Buy (BBY), and orders from its online store are still taking seven to 10 business days to ship.

With international sales set to begin later this month and demand for the device so far exceeding expectations, Severson’s statement may be wishful thinking more than anything, at least for now.

Confirming news first leaked by Apple CEO Steve Jobs himself, Apple this morning issued a press release officially announcing the big-box retailer as an iPad launch partner. Its only iPad launch partner–the release includes no mention of AT&T (T).

“iPad connects users with their apps and content in a far more intimate and fun way than ever before,” Apple CEO Steve Jobs enthused in the announcement. “We can’t wait for users to get their hands and fingers on it this weekend.”

Sales at Apple (AAPL) and Best Buy (BBY) stores will begin at 9 am Saturday, with Apple stores offering iPad workshops and a free Personal Setup service for customers looking for a bit of help getting their new iPads configured and loaded up with their favorite apps and media.

If you’re hoping to find iPad at Best Buy, you would do well to arrive early. Leaked documents from the retailer suggest its iPad inventories will be pretty slim, about 15 per store (see highlighted text below; click to enlarge).

Meanwhile, Mac Rumors and Mac Daily News both report that some the earliest of early adopters have begun receiving shipping notifications for their iPads.

[Best Buy Playbook Image Credit: TUAW.com]

FURTHER READING:

Launch Day iPads Sold Out

iPad Available at “Most Best Buy Stores” This Saturday

Apple Grabs iPad Trademark From Fujitsu

Apple Now Accepting iPad App Submissions

Early Supplies of iPad Accessories Dwindling?

Initial iPad Demand Greater Than Initial iPhone Demand

iPad TV?

Apple’s Tablet: Read Different?

Rumored Apple Netbook Actually an E-book?

Coming Soon From Apple: Big Touch?

iTablet: Apple’s Killer App for Higher Ed

COMPLETE IPAD COVERAGE

Maybe. Sources tell me Web video start-up Vudu is in “meaningful” acquisition discussions, and industry executives believe Walmart is the likely buyer.

Vudu executives declined to comment. I’ve lobbed a call into the Walmart (WMT) press center but haven’t heard back.

It’s a deal that makes some sense on paper: Vudu is one of many services that give consumers a chance to rent or buy movies over the Web, but it hasn’t gotten much traction. “It’s a beautiful product and a really great service, in need of distribution,” says a person familiar with the company.

And Walmart has tried video delivery twice before but backed away each time. Acquiring a tech team at the right price could help it make a third effort.

After trying for two years to compete with Netflix’s DVD-by-mail business, Walmart gave up in 2005 and agreed to send its customers directly to Netflix (NFLX). In 2007, with the backing of all the big studios and tech help from Hewlett-Packard (HPQ), the retailer tried to launch a download service, a la Apple’s (AAPL) iTunes. But it abandoned that effort in less than a year.

Meanwhile, sources say Vudu has been seeking a buyer–in the form of either a big-box retailer or an electronics manufacturer–for some time without success. Internet executive Mark Jung ran the company for a year but left in November 2008; founder Alain Rossmann became interim CEO when Jung left and has kept the title since then.

Santa Clara, Calif.-based Vudu has raised at least $21 million from Benchmark Capital and Greylock Partners. I’m told that when the company was marketing itself last fall, it was looking for a sale price of $50 million or more. But it may not have much leverage to command a premium.

Vudu started out by marketing an Internet-connected box that consumers plugged into their TVs, but that offering seemed to underwhelm customers (as well as All Things D‘s Katie Boehret). It is now focused on building that technology directly into TVs and Blu-ray players and marketing itself as a Netflix-like service.

The company’s supposed strengths are a video compression technology that makes it feasible to stream movies in high definition and a peer-to-peer architecture that cuts down the cost of delivering large files. UPDATE: Vudu reps tell me they no longer use P2P for file delivery.

Earlier this week, Nokia (NOK) announced plans to close its flagship store on London’s Regent Street. These stores were designed to “inspire and educate consumers to the benefits of mobility” and broaden the appeal of the Nokia brand but have apparently done neither, particularly in the North American market, which is among Nokia’s weakest.

“There is no reason for Nokia to have the flagship stores–they cost too much compared to the value they create,” Strand Consult analyst John Strand told Reuters. “Flagship stores are important in fashion industry: Apple is fashion. Nokia is consumer electronics.”

In the end, isn’t the rent the company would have paid on these retail spaces better spent on, you know, developing a worthy rival to Apple’s (AAPL) iPhone?

“We believe Wal-Mart is actively pitching Apple to carry more products,” Reitzes said in a research note this morning. “With Wal-Mart improving its retail displays, we believe that the mega-retailer could eventually earn the right to sell select Mac products without diluting Apple’s brand….Apple is very particular and exclusive with who sells its Macs and any ‘Mac experiment’ with Wal-Mart would likely start very gradually via a pilot program at first–just like Mac sales started at Best Buy….While we don’t expect an immediate impact this year and believe Apple would need to reposition its line-up first, we believe that closer ties to Wal-Mart makes sense.”

Indeed, Wal-Mart (WMT) could certainly bolster Apple’s (AAPL) distribution, particularly in areas without Apple Stores. A compelling proposition: broader access to the mass-market consumer without the infrastructure costs of a standalone boutique. And surely Apple has overcome its aversion to Wal-Mart now that the big-box retailer has been peddling its iPhones for so long.

The short, and obvious, answer to that question is “a hell of a lot.” In a note to clients today, Bernstein Research analyst Toni Sacconaghi argues that Wal-Mart (WMT) can sell between 800,000 and 1.3 million iPhones in 2009, though the retailer’s low price mantra may appear inconsistent with the iPhone’s market positioning. And that would seem to be a reasonable estimate. After all, Wal-Mart has some 2,500 retail outlets in the states, through which 100 million customers stream each week.

“The addition of Wal-Mart will roughly double the iPhone’s distribution in the US to nearly 6,000 outlets,” Sacconaghi writes. “We believe iPhone sales will benefit from the added distribution, though not proportionately; in our view, price (for both the device and service plan) is still the biggest hurdle to mass adoption…. With the iPhone already available at 3,000 Apple, AT&T (T), and Best Buy (BBY) stores, Wal-Mart likely does little to expand the device’s geographic reach. However, we believe Wal-Mart will have a greater impact on the iPhone’s demographic reach in terms of raising awareness and availability among lower-end consumers who are less likely to shop at the Apple Stores or BestBuy.”

One last point worth noting here, Sacconaghi puts little faith in rumors that Wal-Mart will offer a $99 4GB iPhone. “Could there be a cheaper iPhone at Wal-Mart,” he writes. “We think it unlikely, at least initially, but the idea is not completely unfounded. In our view, a $99 price point for the iPhone seems too low, but some modest discount is not implausible.”

The short, and obvious, answer to that question is “a hell of a lot.” In a note to clients today, Bernstein Research analyst Toni Sacconaghi argues that Wal-Mart (WMT) can sell between 800,000 and 1.3 million iPhones in 2009, though the retailer’s low price mantra may appear inconsistent with the iPhone’s market positioning. And that would seem to be a reasonable estimate. After all, Wal-Mart has some 2,500 retail outlets in the states, through which 100 million customers stream each week.

“The addition of Wal-Mart will roughly double the iPhone’s distribution in the US to nearly 6,000 outlets,” Sacconaghi writes. “We believe iPhone sales will benefit from the added distribution, though not proportionately; in our view, price (for both the device and service plan) is still the biggest hurdle to mass adoption…. With the iPhone already available at 3,000 Apple, AT&T (T), and Best Buy (BBY) stores, Wal-Mart likely does little to expand the device’s geographic reach. However, we believe Wal-Mart will have a greater impact on the iPhone’s demographic reach in terms of raising awareness and availability among lower-end consumers who are less likely to shop at the Apple Stores or BestBuy.”

One last point worth noting here, Sacconaghi puts little faith in rumors that Wal-Mart will offer a $99 4GB iPhone. “Could there be a cheaper iPhone at Wal-Mart,” he writes. “We think it unlikely, at least initially, but the idea is not completely unfounded. In our view, a $99 price point for the iPhone seems too low, but some modest discount is not implausible.”

Latest example: Borders Group (BGP), the struggling book chain, has cut its music inventory by 30 percent in the last year, the company said. Music now occupies about seven percent of its floorspace, and the space it used to take up has been given over to higher-margin products like children’s books.

Borders makes up a relatively small portion of U.S. music sales, but most big retailers have been doing the same thing for more than a year. If you don’t believe me, try to find the CD section next time you visit a Target (TGT) or Best Buy (BBY) this month.

The big stores will embrace individual albums–if they have an exclusive, like Best Buy’s deal with Guns N’ Roses, or Wal-Mart’s (WMT) recent AC/DC promotion. (That’s Best Buy’s GNR promotion, pictured above. Lonely, isn’t it?) But beyond that, they are basically telling music shoppers, who bought some $7 billion worth of discs last year, to take their business elsewhere.

[Image Credit: Idolator]

The deal is an obvious coup for the big-box retailer, which, with the exception of Apple (AAPL) and AT&T (T), has a national exclusive on the device through Christmas. Just a few weeks back, Stifel Nicolaus analyst David Schick suggested that availability of the iPhone only at Apple and AT&T Wireless stores could “hurt demand or at least foot traffic to Best Buy and Circuit City.” Now that appears to be the fate of Circuit City (CC) alone.

“It solidifies us as the place to go for the cool stuff,” Best Buy Mobile President Shawn Score told Reuters. “Our customers are looking for this product. We do believe that broadening our assortment and having iPhone in our stores is certainly going to be very important [heading into the holiday season].”

Important for Apple as well, assuming the company works through its iPhone shortage problems. Offering the device for sale in Best Buy’s (BBY) 970 stores will certainly make it quite a bit easier for Apple to reach its oft-stated goal of selling 10 million iPhones in 2008. Not that it really needs any help in that department. According to Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster Apple is on track to sell 4.47 million iPhones in this quarter alone.

The deal is an obvious coup for the big-box retailer, which, with the exception of Apple (AAPL) and AT&T (T), has a national exclusive on the device through Christmas. Just a few weeks back, Stifel Nicolaus analyst David Schick suggested that availability of the iPhone only at Apple and AT&T Wireless stores could “hurt demand or at least foot traffic to Best Buy and Circuit City.” Now that appears to be the fate of Circuit City (CC) alone.

“It solidifies us as the place to go for the cool stuff,” Best Buy Mobile President Shawn Score told Reuters. “Our customers are looking for this product. We do believe that broadening our assortment and having iPhone in our stores is certainly going to be very important [heading into the holiday season].”

Important for Apple as well, assuming the company works through its iPhone shortage problems. Offering the device for sale in Best Buy’s (BBY) 970 stores will certainly make it quite a bit easier for Apple to reach its oft-stated goal of selling 10 million iPhones in 2008. Not that it really needs any help in that department. According to Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster Apple is on track to sell 4.47 million iPhones in this quarter alone.