Good news trickled in this week for the hardware sector, plagued by a slump in the traditional PC market, as Gartner reported that server sales rose during the first quarter and Lenovo proved that there is demand for PCs in emerging markets.
Excitement over LinkedIn's stunning market debut appears to have outweighed concerns this week about Hewlett-Packard and Dell earnings reports, which highlighted a desultory PC market.
Though Cisco had disappointing earnings news this week, the Microsoft deal to buy Skype, an Intel dividend and solid financials from Symantec helped keep confidence in IT high.
Chinese tech companies are once again creating U.S. IPO market buzz, with social-networking site RenRen going public Wednesday, software security vendor NetQin Mobile launching Thursday, and several more companies set for public offerings next week.
Though there were some concerns about tech company earnings this week as Microsoft, SAP and other bellwethers reported results, the IT sector has helped drive markets to a solid start for the second quarter.
A Who's Who of IT bellwethers including Apple, IBM, Intel and Qualcomm issued strong financial reports this week, the height of earnings season, reinforcing forecasts for a strong year for the tech sector.
Despite an unusual earnings miss Thursday by Internet bellwether Google, continuing geopolitical turmoil and disappointing news for the PC market, IT is demonstrating continuing resilience as tech stocks in certain sectors moved higher Friday.
Research in Motion executives came out in force Thursday evening in New York, playing hosts at the industry launch of the PlayBook tablet in an effort to convince market watchers and potential users that the device is a serious contender in an arena dominated by Apple's iPad.
Another strong earthquake in Japan Thursday and rising oil prices caused turmoil in the markets this week, but there still appears to be strong underlying confidence in the tech sector.
An appeals court Monday dismissed Verizon's challenge of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission's December net neutrality ruling, calling it premature.
Oracle, Red Hat and Micron earnings, along with good macroeconomic news, are pumping oxygen into tech stocks after the tragic March 11 earthquake in Japan disrupted markets worldwide.
AT&T plans to acquire T-Mobile USA from Deutsche Telekom in a cash-and-stock deal valued at about $39 billion, the companies announced Sunday.
The devastating earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan on March 11 took a tragic toll on human life but also rocked markets this week, sending shares of businesses, including technology vendors, on a rollercoaster ride.
Passing the second anniversary of the Great Recession's market low this week, the technology sector remains a pillar for corporate revenue and investor confidence, as industry bellwethers like IBM and Apple make impressive share gains.
News from Apple and Teradata along with various economic forecasts this week show that at seemingly opposite ends of the technology-product spectrum, non-PC mobile devices and IT capable of handling extremely high volumes of data are major forces shaping the economics of the computer industry.