PC growth slows, and Windows 8 won't fix it soon
An Asus Taichi ultrabook in tablet mode. Will consumers flock to Windows 8 and ultrabooks?
/ CNET AsiaThe traditional PC market is in dire need of some hot new products to drive growth. Too bad that's probably not going to happen soon, according to market researcher IDC.
The worldwide PC market has basically slowed to a crawl this year, IDC says in a report released today. It expects just 0.9 percent growth this year, the second consecutive year of growth below two percent.
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Windows 8 Pro upgrade set for $39.99 with Media Center
Microsoft
(CNET) Microsoft is trying to make the Windows 8 upgrade more tempting by cutting the upgrade price and throwing in Media Center, too.
Those with Windows XP, Windows Vista, or Windows 7 will qualify for an upgrade to Windows 8 Pro for $39.99 in 131 markets, Microsoft said today.
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Foxconn, Sharp eying Apple big-screen TV, says parts maker
Sharp 60-inch TV.
/ Sharp(CNET) Foxconn aims to use its investment in Sharp to land orders for Apple's upcoming large-screen TV - so the ongoing speculation goes.
The latest guesswork comes from Asia Ho Chao-yang, former president of Chimei Innolux, Taiwan's largest LCD maker, and current chairman of Chi Mei Materials Technology, who concludes that Foxconn Electronics' investment in Sharp is a play to "secure iTV orders from Apple," according to Taipei-based DigiTimes.
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MacBook Retina display already here, analyst says
Apple
Slimmer, retina MacBook to debut at WWDC, report says
iPad mini in testing stage, says research firm
Apple
(CNET) - A smaller iPad is undergoing tests, a market researcher says, adding fuel to rumors about a downsized Apple tablet.
"Smaller iPads...are still in the testing stage; whether or not these prototypes will enter mass production remains unknown," TrendForce, a Taipei-based market research and consulting firm, said today.
Continue »Former Intel CEO Grove: "Government Needs to Do Something Dangerous"
Among the scores of fabless chip companies and product design houses in Silicon Valley, Intel is a standout. It's an American high-tech company that not only creates but builds some of the most sophisticated tech products in the world here. That contrasts with others, like Apple and Hewlett-Packard, that consign virtually all product manufacturing and assembly abroad.
Former Intel CEO Andy Grove
/ Getty ImagesLast week, I asked Intel co-founder Andy Grove how the chipmaker became one of the last, great high-tech manufacturing giants in the U.S. and why many Silicon Valley icons haven't done the same. Grove was Intel's chairman from May 1997 to May 2005 and served as chief executive from 1987 to 1998
Intel's manufacturing strategy was underscored by a recent announcement to invest as much as $8 billion in new factories and facilities in the U.S. That's in addition to the roughly $34 billion it has already invested in its U.S. factories, including investment in a joint flash chip manufacturing venture with Micron Technology.
Grove says Intel has been making, or "fabbing," chips in the U.S. since its founding in 1968--for practical reasons, mind you. "That was not a result of us wanting to be patriotic. Operationally that was the most logical thing for us to do," he said, in a phone interview.
Why, historically, has it been practical for Intel? "The people doing the technology manufacturing were highly trained, highly disciplined staff. And there was a lot of desire to not start manufacturing operations willy-nilly all over the place," he said.
