Microsoft Posts First Yearly Sales Decline

(AP) - Microsoft Corp. said today its quarterly revenue fell from the previous year for the first time in its 23-year history as a public company, while its profit dived 32 percent. The shortfall illustrated the toll the recession has taken on the world's largest software maker, even though it remains one of the richest and most profitable companies. Microsoft, which cut 5,000 jobs in January, said today it would do away with merit pay increases in the next fiscal year. More»

Company sells 37M as earnings double

(NEWSER) - Apple's first quarter since the death of Steve Jobs went very, very well: The company reported that net income doubled to a record $13.1 billion from the same period last year, reports MarketWatch . That translates to $13.87 per share, beating by a mile analysts' estimates of about $10 a share, notes the Wall Street Journal . Credit the iPhone: The company shipped 37 million, well more than the 30 million analysts expected. The iPad also did well, with 15.4 million sold instead of the 13.8 million that were forecast. More»

But what about TouchPad and Web-OS? Stay tuned

(NEWSER) - The world's biggest PC maker has decided to keep making PCs. New Hewlett-Packard CEO Meg Whitman announced today that the company is backtracking from her ousted predecessor's strategy to spin off the $41 billion computer division and, in the words of Gizmodo , "turn HP into the next IBM." Whitman said an analysis showed the move wouldn't make sense. More»

Even if iPad sales didn't meet expectations

(AP) - Apple today reported another exceptional quarter, nearly doubling its net income and far exceeding analyst estimates on the strength of the seemingly unstoppable iPhone. However, sales of Apple's big new product, the iPad tablet computer, came in below expectations. The second version of the tablet launched three weeks before the end of the quarter, and manufacturing constraints may have prevented Apple from selling more of them. More»

Because they're the most interesting companies in tech, that's why

(NEWSER) - Pew Research recently unveiled a stunningly obvious study concluding that the tech company most written about—and fawned over—by the press was (drum roll, please) Apple. In second place? You guessed it, Google. About 26% of all tech articles are about those two juggernauts. But Farhad Manjoo of Slate isn’t apologizing. “Sure, I write about Apple and Google more than any other companies,” he says, “but I don’t think my coverage is unwarranted.” More»