Toshiba has chosen a consortium formed by Bain Capital, Mitsubishi, and Japanese government investors as the preferred bidder for its memory chip business, effectively locking out a Foxconn-led consortium including the likes of Apple and Dell.
Apple, Dell, and Kingston are currently the three other partners in a Foxconn-led group bidding for Toshiba's memory unit — though still more tech firms may sign on with just days to go, according to Foxconn's chairman.
The weak sustainability of low-end market share has claimed a new victim. Dell has dropped its remaining Venue-branded Android tablet line and will instead focus on selling conventional PCs and hybrid "2-in-1" devices running Windows, citing over-saturation and declining demand for slate-style tablets.
A study by Duo Labs looking at a series of name-brand PC makers revealed that their bundled software "is making us vulnerable and invading our privacy."
A drop in MacBook, MacBook Pro, and MacBook Air shipments year-over-year likewise resulted in Apple losing share in the world's declining laptop market, according to March-quarter research data.
Apple continued to grow overall Mac marketshare during the March quarter as most leading Windows PC makers suffered significant setbacks, according to the latest research data from Gartner and IDC.
Two years after regaining control of his eponymous PC maker, Michael Dell on Monday announced plans to acquire enterprise giant EMC and combine the two firms in a $67 billion deal that will create the largest privately-owned technology company in the world.
Apple once again ranked highest this year on an annual Consumer Reports satisfaction survey for computer support services, the magazine has revealed in its July issue.
With more than 20 million combined Mac and iPad shipments, Apple handily retained its title as the world's largest PC vendor in the first quarter of 2014, the latest data from Canalys shows.
Market research firm Canalys reports that Apple achieved a 19.5 percent slice of global, combined PC and tablet sales in the fourth calendar quarter of 2013. That's a larger share of unit sales than Dell and HP together, and well in advance of second place Lenovo and third place Samsung.
While media coverage of tech industry labor issues in the Far East often highlight Apple's involvement, other major electronics companies contract with the same suppliers. A new report this week now accuses a handful of suppliers for PC maker Dell of hiring underage workers in China.
The struggling PC market is forecast to go from bad to worse, as one analyst believes a number of market factors will push gross margins even lower in the already-cutthroat business.
As the PC market continues to shrink even after the heavily hyped launch of Microsoft's Windows 8, consolidation among hardware makers and an industry-wide shakeup is likely "inevitable" in the coming years, according to a new analysis.
Apple was the third-largest consumer technology retailer in the U.S. in 2012, while its products accounted for the largest share of revenue among consumer tech companies.
Apple's lobbying efforts in Washington D.C. were scaled back 13 percent in 2012 to $2 million, a sum below many of the iPhone maker's peers.
Computer maker Dell announced on Tuesday that it would be going private in a $24.4 billion deal involving a private equity firm and software giant Microsoft.
Struggling PC maker Dell is reportedly in talks with at least two private-equity firms to take the company private.
Gartner on Monday contradicted its rival IDC and claimed that domestic Mac shipments actually grew for Apple by 5 percent year over year in the holiday quarter.
An executive at one of Microsoft's largest PC partners, Dell, warned that the "Windows RT" branding for its tablet operating system might confuse consumers because it does not run traditional Windows applications.
Estimates released Wednesday from market research firms show overall U.S. PC shipments fell nearly 14 percent year-to-year in the third quarter of 2012, while Apple's share shrunk 6.1 percent over the same period.
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Roger Fingas
Daniel Eran Dilger
AppleInsider Staff
Neil Hughes
Sam Oliver
Kevin Bostic
Katie Marsal
