Nokia’s Market Share Declines

According to a recent IDC report, the mobile phone market continued its recovery with about 22% growth in the first quarter of 2010. Nokia (NYSE:NOK) maintained its position as the number one vendor, but its market share declined to 36.6% from 38.4% last year. Let’s take a closer look. >>>

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iPad Components And Their Makers

The semiconductor market is in a strong recovery mode. Chipmakers Texas Instruments (NYSE:TXN), Broadcom (NASDAQ:BRCM), and Atheros (NASDAQ:ATHR) all recently reported strong results and are trading close to their 52-week highs. Also, Broadcom and Texas Instruments have design wins in the iPad, which according to PC World reached 1 million in sales this past Friday, 28 days after its release. Let’s take a closer look. >>>

An SAP-HP Partnership Coming In Mobile Enterprise Apps?

Last week, SAP (NYSE:SAP) announced its plans to buy TechniData, a German company that provides software to help businesses comply with environmental, health, and safety regulations. And this week, it announced strong first quarter results. Let’s take a closer look. >>>

Juniper And Polycom Merger?

Earlier in the year, Juniper (NASDAQ:JNPR) and Polycom (NASDAQ:PLCM) formed an alliance to offer videoconferencing systems and associated network infrastructure. Juniper recently announced its plans to buy Ankeena, a media content delivery company, for less than $100 million. Both these moves indicate that Juniper is contemplating how to develop a third front against Cisco. HP’s acquisition of 3Com, of course, has created the most significant threat so far to Cisco’s hegemony. Let’s take a closer look. >>>

Yahoo!’s Turnaround Strategy (Again!)

Yahoo! (NASDAQ:YHOO) turned fifteen this quarter, and I doubt it is happy with where it is currently. Carol Bartz still seems to be struggling with figuring out what needs to be done and is busy reshuffling management. The company did sell off a few non-profitable ventures, but I would have preferred that it had taken more serious steps in strengthening its verticals to get its growth story back in place. As it stands, more mumbo jumbo from Yahoo!’s confused HQ. >>>

Qualcomm And STM Swing To Profit

Chipmakers Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) and STMicroelectronics (NYSE:STM) recently reported their quarterly results. Both companies swung to a profit, but Qualcomm provided a weak outlook that sent its shares plummeting. Let’s take a closer look. >>>

Microsoft’s Challenging Decade Ahead

A recent Gartner report estimates worldwide PC sales to grow 12% over the year to $245 billion. Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) will be pleased with those numbers, but that does not change the fact that the company is facing stiff competition from Apple. Apple is slowly gaining PC market share: for the March-ending quarter it claimed 8% of the U.S. market share compared with 7.2% a year ago. I can vouch for this, having just completed a shift from PC to an elegant MacBook Pro, which delights me every moment. The PC did the exact opposite. It frustrated me every moment.

Google too is encroaching on Microsoft’s territory through its open source Office Apps and browser Chrome. Both are forcing Microsoft to look beyond and grow its addressable market by launching a series of new products and services. >>>

Indian Outsourcers Should Look At Rural Talent

According to recent Forrester research, technology spending in the United States is expected to grow 8.4% in 2010 and global market IT spending is projected to rise 7.7%. But, while IT spending may be better, the $60 billion Indian IT industry has a tough challenge in maintaining margins. The sector earns the majority of its revenues from the United States, and with the rupee growing stronger against the dollar, margins are being hurt. The Indian rupee appreciated 4% over the dollar in the quarter ended March after registering a 5% gain in the previous year. Additionally, with the job market opening up, players are resorting to double-digit salary increases to retain offshore staff and are taking a hit on their margins; the increasing costs are making traditional outsourcing a less attractive alternative. As I wrote in my Forbes column today, Indian IT majors should look very seriously at rural and small-town outsourcing, and soon.
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Google Grows (Up?) Amidst Headaches

Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) seems to be facing some headaches despite an upbeat quarter. The company’s attempts to expand its China operations met with problems after a cyber attack in December of last year. Also, some new applications are the subject of government concerns on user privacy. Such are the realities of growing up. >>>

IBM’s Business Remix Pays Off

Over the past decade, IBM (NYSE:IBM) with annual revenue of $95.8 billion, has followed a smart strategy by exiting low-margin “commoditized” businesses and focusing on higher margin software and services. Yesterday the company reported a 13% increase in its first quarter profit and raised its outlook for the rest of the year. Let’s take a closer look. >>>