EMC, Apple, Microsoft shine
623303
Though the macroeconomic picture remains cloudy, major IT vendors, such as Apple, Microsoft, and EMC, for the most part reported solid third-quarter earnings this week, giving technology investors hope for the rest of the year.Thursday was a busy day on Wall Street with Microsoft, EMC, and Motorola reporting.After the market closed,&#160;Microsoft reported a 23 percent quarterly jump in net income, which hit $4.29 billion as demand for Windows and Office software remained strong. Revenue was $13.76 billion, a 27 increase from one year earlier. The company said it was the fastest revenue growth spurt for their first fiscal quarter since 1999, around the height of the dot-com boom. That should help reassure some investors that despite concerns about the U.S. economy, at least certain areas of the IT sector are still managing to show strong growth.In after-hours trading right after the announcement, Microsoft shares rose by $1.98 to $33.98.EMC&#39;s profit jumped&#160;as the data-storage company made gains on the sale of part of its stake in virtualization software maker VMware. EMC reported that net income was $492.9 million, compared with a profit of $283.7 million last year. Revenue jumped to $3.3 billion from $2.8 billion a year earlier. Though much of the gains were from&#160;a one-time sale of part of VMware to Cisco, other parts of the business did well: Software rose 25 percent, storage business sales rose 9 percent, and service grew 25 percent. EMC shares rose $1.92 on the news, to close at $24.45.Motorola, meanwhile, reported an abrupt drop, of 94 percent, in quarterly profit, as it searched to find a follow-up to its Razr mobile phone. Net income was $60 million, while revenue fell 17 percent to $8.81 billion. Nevertheless investors apparently were heartened that the company saw small boosts in the average selling price for mobile devices -- something that even mighty Nokia did not experience last quarter.Motorola forecast earnings from continuing operations for the fourth quarter of $0.12 to $0.14 a share, while analysts had expected earnings of $0.10. So even though profit was way down, company shares managed to jump $0.75 to $19.30 Thursday.Apple kicked off the week on a high note, on Monday reporting solid earnings that were fueled by record Mac sales and shipments of 1.12 million iPhones. The company handily beat analyst estimates with income of $904 million, 67 percent higher than a year earlier. Earnings per share were $1.01. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial had forecast $760.45 million in net income and earnings of $0.84 per share. Apple jumped $11.80 to close at $186.16 the day after its earnings report. Even though Apple shares have been trading at all-time highs, the common wisdom on Wall Street is that things will get even better.Brokerages like Goldman Sachs and UBS reiterated &quot;buy&quot; ratings and Citi Investment Research headlined its report: &quot;The Best Is Yet To Come.&quot; With the new Mac OS, Leopard, going to market on Friday, sales are expected to do well through the holiday season.Still, concerns about the U.S. economy linger. With the price of oil skyrocketing and the housing-market crisis making headlines, investors remain worried that economic concerns will weigh on IT sales. But earnings from the major IT bellwethers over the last few weeks are showing that technology is proving to be resilient, so far.
330906
Apple iTunes has even more competition on their hands. HMV has joined hands with Appleâs primary challenger in the digital music stores market Microsoft.
717239
The success of VMware Inc.'s public stock offering earlier this month was good news for parent company EMC Corp. of Hopkinton. But VMware competitor John Thibault is almost as glad.
322619
Increase your enterprises functionality, and maximize the value of your information, without breaking a sweat.  Discover the full range of EMC hardware and software solutions and educational services to help meet your business challenges.
352579
Check out Wired's picks for standouts at CES 2008. Some are more pleasant on the eyes than others.
512191
From gold-plated hard drives to eye-popping Google demos, the exhibitor floor at Macworld 2008 is crammed with goodies -- and there are plenty of Mac users elbowing each other for a look at the latest. Wired's continuing coverage of the conference brings you the highlights from the show floor.
651278
Here are CNET Reviews' top 10 items from the past week, including the new iPod Nano and iMac Core 2 Duo.
577422
EMC subsidiary demonstrates future crash-proofing technology that lets one machine take over where another left off, plus other pies in the virtual sky.
530680
Microsoft Corp. confirmed Friday it's working on music and entertainment products that are expected to compete with Apple Computer Inc.'s wildly popular iPod and iTunes music service.
51520
EMC reported a 74% rise in quarterly profit and doubled its stock buyback program to $2 billion, sending shares up 4% today. The stock was also boosted by strong results yesterday from business software maker VMware Inc.
442223
Despite the buzz over the public offering of its VMware software business, EMC Corp. of Hopkinton isn't forgetting its roots as a maker of data storage systems. The company will today unveil major upgrades to its key storage products.
84691
Steve Jobs, Bono and the Edge Tuesday ushered in what Apple&#39;s CEO and the two members of U2 called a new era of digital music.
294120
EMC Corp. EMC.N, the top maker of  corporate data storage equipment, on Tuesday reported quarterly  profit rose 37 percent amid strong sales of low- and mid-priced  systems and market-share gains from rivals.
688984
Making a strong case for Macs in the enterprise world, Tom Yager of InforWorld.com writes: &#147;Apple&#146;s latest Macs and OS deserve a good, hard look as mainstream enterprise fare.&#148;
277212
Devices seen as good entry point to consumer electronics market.
80183
More than 80 percent of VMware income comes from higher-level tools, a move that gives the EMC subsidiary more breathing room against rivals.Getting real about virtualization
222114
Companies will demonstrate how their technology will work together.