market

The bad news keeps piling on for Best Buy.

As if the resignation of CEO Brian Dunn and a rough quarterly report weren't enough, investment bank Canaccord Genuity said today that Best Buy may have actually lost market share for the first time in a decade.

This would marks a reversal share gains that Best Buy has made over the past years as other big-box retailers crumbled and faded away. While its advances haven't been as strong in recent years, Best Buy had continued to take business away from its competitors.

But the rise in online retailers such … Read more

PC shipments in the first quarter didn't scorch any growth charts, but they did avoid a predicted decline.

According to Gartner data, PC shipments in the first quarter checked in at 89 million units, up 1.9 percent from a year ago. Gartner has projected a 1.2 percent decline. IDC data shows PC unit growth of 2.3 percent in the first quarter.

In other words, the PC patient has a pulse despite a tablet onslaught.

However, there are plenty of things to worry the PC industry. For starters, India and China growth wasn't that great. Europe … Read more

Gartner Group is predicting Microsoft will control only 4 percent of the worldwide tablet market in 2012, trailing Apple and Google as a distant third player in the space.

Gartner estimates that Apple will sell 73 million tablets worldwide in 2012, and Android OEMs another 38 million. Tablet makers running Windows will sell 4.8 million devices, Gartner estimated in new data released this week. Gartner is expecting 119 million tablets to be sold worldwide in total this year.

It's not just because Windows 8, Microsoft's first truly touch-centric, tablet-optimized operating system, isn't expected to launch until … Read more

Apple's market capitalization crossed the $600 billion mark earlier today, setting a record for the company and nearing that of one of its biggest rivals.

Shares of the company's stock reached $644 in intraday trading. Per Dow Jones, the stock needs to close above $643.52 to reach the magic $600 billion number.

Market capitalization is defined as the value of shares times the number of shares outstanding. Apple passed previous market cap champ Exxon on that metric last year, and is now nearing the $619 billion market cap record set by rival Microsoft on December 30, 1999. … Read more

Almost everyone knows someone who has had their cell phone stolen. And most likely, there wasn't much that person could do about it. Some mobile carriers and the U.S. government are now trying to change that.

The Federal Communications Commission announced today that it is partnering with four major carriers to work toward curbing rampant cell phone theft, according to The New York Times. The plan is to jointly create a centralized database of lost or stolen cell phone information that will make it easy to track the devices and cutoff voice and data service.

"It's … Read more

AT&T is putting some heavy cash behind its push to sell the Lumia 900.

The telecommunications giant plans to spend $150 million on its campaign to sell the Nokia smartphone -- more than its budget for the iPhone, according to Ad Age.

AT&T declined to comment on its Lumia budget, but the company previously told CNET that it would launch its biggest campaign ever for the Lumia 900. The carrier is willing to spend so much on an unproven phone because it wants to break away from growing duopoly of Android and iOS. In particular, the … Read more

commentary If Google's marketing video for its in-the-works high-tech specs turned your stomach as much it did the stomachs of certain tech bloggers and editors who shall remain nameless, you'll no doubt appreciate the satirical -- and, we suspect, all too probable -- take that's embedded below.… Read more

Apple could be the first company worth $1 trillion in market capitalization as shares hit $1,000, according to Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster.

Somehow it's unlikely that Apple CEO Tim Cook is sending Munster any thank you notes. After all, we've seen these wild market calls before. Dow Jones Industrial Average at 25,000? Sure why not. All those dot-com stocks justified to the stratosphere in 2000. Magazine covers proclaiming bear and bull markets. You know the drill. One huge call can signal the end.

Rest assured Munster has more fundamental data backing him up. Apple is … Read more

As it did with millions of other fans around the world, "The Hunger Games" trilogy completely captured my imagination. I picked up the books about a year ago and read all three in less than two weeks. And I don't even read very fast!

Of course, as soon as I caught word that Hollywood was turning the franchise into feature films, I had to hop online to do my research. I lapped up every bit of casting news and waited with bated breath to catch my first glimpse of the trailer. And when the trailer arrived, I … Read more