EBay Should Acquire TheFind

According to ComScore, online sales in the U.S. in November and December grew 12% over the year to $32.6 billion. Cyber Monday, the Monday following Thanksgiving, was the biggest online spending day of the holiday season in the U.S. with sales of $1.028 billion. This was the first time ever that online sales crossed the billion-dollar mark in a single day. According to the report, free shipping offers helped to fuel such strong demand. Green Monday, the second Monday of December, was the second-biggest day with sales of $0.95 billion.

>>>

IBM At A Record High

IBM (NYSE:IBM) this week reported strong results that beat estimates driven by increased tech spending. Ten years ago, IBM made a strategic shift to higher-margin software and services while divesting its low-margin commoditized businesses such as computers. That shift in strategy has paid off: IBM reported almost $100 billion in revenue in 2010 and plans to add $20 billion more by 2015. >>>

Apple Doesn’t Need Steve Jobs; Tech Industry Does

On Monday, 55-year-old Steve Jobs, the legendary CEO of Apple, disclosed that he will be going on medical leave. He was diagnosed with a rare form of pancreatic cancer in 2004, and he had a liver transplant in 2008. He said he will continue as the company’s CEO and be involved in major strategic decisions, but COO Tim Cook will be handling the day-to-day operations. Jobs has taken Apple to the peak of high-end technological innovation and fashionable design and in the process made it the world’s most valuable technology company, surpassing Microsoft. On Tuesday, Apple reported yet another stellar quarter that was beyond all expectations. The near-term future also looks bright, with the iPhone soon coming to Verizon, which has a subscriber base of 93 million. It looks as though Apple does not need Steve Jobs to sustain its momentum, at least not for the moment. >>>

TCS And Infosys Expanding In China

A recent Gartner study claims that the global spending on technology will increase 5% in 2011 to $3.6 trillion. IT outsourcers are pleased by the report. However, in India, currency volatility continues to pose a threat. During the previous quarter, the U.S. dollar fell more than 5% against the euro and around 2% against the pound, but the rupee rose an average 3.5% against the dollar. The U.S. market claims nearly 80% of the Indian outsourcers’ revenues. As the rupee continues to strengthen, the cost advantage for the region is wearing off faster than expected. But even amid such concerns, India’s largest IT outsourcer, TCS, posted better-than-expected results.

>>>

Popularity Of Mobile Devices Challenge For Intel

Intel (NASDAQ:INTC), which has an 80% share in PC chips and a 90% share in the server market, reported strong results last week that beat estimates and provided a strong outlook for 2011 driven by the growth in servers. The growing number of connected devices like smartphones, tablets, smart TVs, and embedded devices is leading to a surge in Internet traffic and data usage. This dynamic in turn leads to a demand for high-performing servers and networking infrastructure. Intel says it is well positioned to benefit from the growth of its Data Center division and the build out of cloud computing. But it needs to look out for challenges from ARM, not just in smartphones and tablets but in servers as well. >>>

For-Profit Education Sector Reporting Massive Enrollment Drop

The for-profit educational sector has had a tough year with the tightening of government scrutiny of loan default rates, media publicity highlighting poor education, and tighter controls being levied by the Department of Education for federal student aid. All of these measures have impacted student enrollments. Earlier last week, education institutes revealed their winter enrollment statistics, and the numbers were gloomy. Strayer Education reported a 20% drop in winter enrollment, DeVry a 5% drop, and Apollo a 3.8% drop in degreed enrollment. Even the S&P 1500 Education Services subindex fell significantly in the past year. After having touched a 52-week high of $139.10 in April of last year, the index dropped to $81.04.

>>>

Facebook’s Strategy In Perspective

One of the big technological trends of the decade has been the rise of the social Web, and I do believe that it is a trend that will drive the evolution of the Internet in the coming years. Facebook itself has been one of the biggest trends in the category. The social networking site, started in 2004, calls itself a social utility that helps people to communicate and connect with the various social groups such as family, friends, colleagues, and others in their lives. In this post, we will review Facebook’s strategy – what it is and what it should be. >>>

Akamai’s Ups And Downs

Akamai (NASDAQ:AKAM) witnessed many ups and downs in 2010. Early in the year, the company landed a deal with Netflix as a primary content delivery network, taking away business from Level 3. However, at the end of the year, Netflix, which accounts for about 20% of primetime Internet traffic, went back to Level 3. In December, Akamai also lost a court ruling in its four-year patent battle with Limelight Networks. Let’s take a closer look. >>>