sales

When market analyst IDC last week noted the sharp 13.9 percent quarterly drop in worldwide PC sales, it placed much of the blame on the "radical" user interface changes of Microsoft's new Windows 8 operating system.

"Microsoft will have to make some very tough decisions moving forward if it wants to help reinvigorate the PC market," Bob O'Donnell, IDC's program vice president for clients and displays, said in a statement.

Therein lies a core challenge for Microsoft. The software giant doesn't really have a plan B.

Microsoft can't undo the … Read more

PC sales are in the dumps, and not even a promising new chip from Intel may be enough to revive them, believes J.P Morgan analyst Mark Moskowitz.

The computer industry took it on the chin yesterday after both IDC and Gartner revealed that first-quarter shipments reached their lowest point in years. IDC fingered Windows 8 for failing to pump up PC sales but also blamed the weak economy and consumer demand for smartphones and tablets.

PC makers have been awaiting the arrival of Intel's new Haswell chip, which promises higher performance and lower power consumption. As such, the … Read more

Apple had either a very solid first calendar quarter of Mac shipments in the U.S., or one that was quite bad, depending on who you listen to.

A dueling pair of PC shipment reports from market trackers IDC and Gartner put Apple's Mac numbers in the U.S. at odds. IDC says Apple's shipments in the first three months of the year were down 7.5 percent from the same quarter last year. Gartner, on the other hand, says Apple's Mac shipments were up 7.4 percent.

So who's right? We'll know when Apple … Read more

I get asked this question a lot: "Does anyone still make great-sounding affordable CD players?" Sure, most of the major brands do, but only NAD currently offers a large slate of players starting with the $300 C 516BEE, and it's a honey.

Before we go any further I want to first clarify why I'm reviewing a CD player in 2013. Despite the naysayers the CD isn't "dead," far from it. Music lovers are still buying hundreds of millions of CDs every year. Download sales just barely surpassed sales of physical music (CDs, LPs, … Read more

Apple sold less than 33 million iPhones last quarter. No, wait, it sold more than 42 million. Actually, those are just the lowest and highest predictions offered by a bevy of analysts surveyed by Fortune.

Among the 48 analysts questioned about Apple's iPhone sales last quarter, Sterne Agee's Shaw Wu was the most bearish, offering an estimate of just 32.5 million. On the other end of the spectrum, Michel Contant of the Braeburn Group was the most bullish, eyeing sales of 42.5 million.

The average turned out to be almost 36.9 million, while the median … Read more

There may be a reason why Android devices are more popular in Europe than Apple's iPhone: they're cheaper.

The CEO of one of Europe's largest wireless carriers said today that European customers are becoming increasingly more pennywise, which is putting a damper on sales of costlier mobile phones. Hence, this should sound as a warning call to Apple.

"Customers are more focused on price," France Telecom CEO Stephane Richard told Bloomberg. "Except for a few hundred thousand people who will buy the latest iPhone -- except for that category of people -- the majority … Read more

Instant Quote Professional by PC Experts is a full-featured tool for any business that needs to issue quotes and cost estimates to customers, such as parts suppliers, contractors, and technicians. Built around a powerful MS Access customer database, it supports major tax structures such as U.S., VAT, GST, and PST, with many customizable options. It includes contact management tools, call logs, POS invoice, Outlook compatibility, support for Add-Ins, and more than 100 different reports. It tracks mileage, inventory, and serial numbers, too, and supports major parts importing formats. On top of all that, it offers some of the most … Read more

After a several months-long lull, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak's old house is back on the market.

The six bedroom, seven bathroom, Los Gatos, Calif., home, which Wozniak built in 1986 though sold off years ago, is back on sale for slightly lower $4.395 million. It's even having an open house this weekend, notes the house's real estate agent over at the San Francisco Chronicle, which spotted the listing on real estate site Redfin.

This is the latest sale attempt of the house, which last changed hands in 2009. Records show that the house originally sold back … Read more