Fusion-io an Acquisition Target?

Analysts estimate the enterprise PCIe SSD (Peripheral Component Interconnect Express Solid State Drives) based flash storage market to be worth $4 billion this year. The flash storage market is projected to grow 70% this year, making it a very attractive space for bigger technology players.

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Dell: Now Private, What Next?

According to the latest worldwide PC shipment report, during the past quarter, PC shipments continued to decline. Globally PC shipment fell 8.6% to 80.28 million units. Lenovo remained the market leader with a 17.6% market share, and Dell came in a distant third with a 11.6% market share. Dell’s quarterly shipment of 9.31 million PCs was 1% higher than previous year’s shipment of 9.22 million. Dell’s market share has also improved from 10.5% a year ago to 11.6% during the recently ended quarter. Within the U.S. Dell maintained its position as the second largest PC vendor, with shipment of 3.34 million PCs growing 3.3% over the year to account for 21% of the U.S. market.

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LeapFrog’s Disappointing Outlook for the Holidays

Come the holiday season, retailers and toy manufacturers begin to count on the usual sales rush that happens at this time of the year. But 2013 holiday season sales projections aren’t very rosy. According to a report by Morgan Stanley, Expect Coal: We Predict the Weakest Holiday Since 2008, analysts are projecting depressed U.S. economic conditions will lead to this holiday season seeing the slowest retail growth in five years. Add to that the calendar shift which has resulted in fewer shopping days. The National Retail Federation has forecast that during this holiday season, per capita spending on gifts and décor will fall 2% over the year.

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Benefitfocus – A Successful SaaS IPO

An IBISWorld report published for the previous year estimates the human resources benefits administration market in the U.S. to be worth more than $59 billion last year. Researcher Gartner estimates that last year, the U.S. insurance industry spent more than $55 billion on software and related services. Recently listed Benefitfocus is a provider of cloud-based benefits software solutions.

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LivingSocial Is Burning Through Its Cash

Last year, the rise in the daily deals market prompted the market leader, Groupon, to list its IPO. Competitor LivingSocial, was expected to list as well. But since then, the market has taken a tumble. Driven by increased competition and waning consumer interest, both Groupon and LivingSocial have tried to restructure their business offering. But they have yet to come up with the winning formula.

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Shutterfly’s Growth Strategy

Recent market reports suggest that consumers are shifting from printing photos to sharing them electronically. According to market reports, more than 22 billion photos will be shared through electronic media by 2015. The trend now is to create personalized products like mugs and totes instead of ordinary photo prints.

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Jive Trading Near 52-Week Lows

An IDC report published earlier this year projects the worldwide enterprise social software market to grow from $1 billion in 2012 to $2.7 billion by the year 2017, translating to an annualized growth rate of 22%. Last year, IBM remained the leader with a 14% market share. Jive Software (Nasdaq:JIVE) came in second with a 10% market share.

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Zynga’s Revamped Mobile Strategy

Social gaming player Zynga (Nasdaq:ZNGA), has not had a good run since it went public. Earlier this year, CEO and founder Mark Pincus renounced his position hoping to let new management drive the company to greater success. But social games are played as a fad and do not attract serious gamers, which has caused many social games companies to struggle with slow growth in user metrics. In the recent quarter, despite a declining user base, Zynga managed to exceed financial expectations, instilling investors with some confidence in its future.

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Groupon Still Struggling to Change Its Luck

Daily deals market leader Groupon (Nasdaq:GRPN) just can’t seem to catch a break. The company tried to turn its luck by firing the founder and CEO, but that hasn’t seemed to help much. Recent inbox changes by Gmail and growing lack of interest among users to buy into daily deals are also not welcome news.

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IBM Continues to Push Growth Through Acquisitions

According to IDC’s United States Black Book 4Q12 report, total enterprise spending on hardware, software, and IT services is projected to grow 6% this year to $474 billion. The researcher believes that growth is impacted by continuing economic concerns across the globe. Analysts believe that most IT budgets will be focused on big data and analytics, cloud computing, and mobility.

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