How Gadgets, Chips, Services Companies Are Faring

Companies providing gadgets, components, services and related software have begun releasing their earnings reports for the latest quarter. The reports come as consumers shift their spending toward phone and tablets and away from traditional PCs. Here's a look at how selected companies are faring.

- July 5: Samsung Electronics Co. says sales of its flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S4, hit 10 million units in May, less than a month since its debut. The company says sales of the S4 hit the 10 million mark about 20 days faster than the previous model. Meanwhile, Samsung reports record quarterly profit, but its stock tumbles on doubts its smartphone business can maintain rapid growth. Analysts say high marketing costs probably weighed on Samsung's mobile business despite the robust sales in the first month. Samsung says it will release full results on July 26.

- July 10: Research firms IDC and Gartner report that worldwide shipments of personal computers fell 11 percent in the April-June period, as people continue to migrate to tablets and other mobile devices. Gartner's Mikako Kitagawa says inexpensive tablets are displacing low-end computers in "mature" markets such as the United States. IDC says the numbers "reflect a market that is still struggling with the transition to touch-based systems running Windows 8." Microsoft Corp.'s latest operating system launched in October, and sales have disappointed analysts.

- July 11: Microsoft says it is dismantling its management structure that separated the company into sometimes disjointed divisions. It is trying to bind everything into a more cohesive line-up of products and services. The shake-up is aimed at transforming Microsoft into a nimbler, more collaborative company better equipped to address the threat posed by the growing popularity of smartphones and tablets running on software made by Google and Apple.

Nokia Corp. attempts to reclaim market share lost to iPhones and Android devices by unveiling a new Windows phone with a powerful camera. The new Nokia Lumia 1020 phone is packed with innovations designed to provide sharp images, even in low light. The phone's 41-megapixel sensor and image-stabilizing technology are both rare in smartphones.

- July 17: Intel Corp., the world's largest maker of chips for PCs, backtracks on sales projections. After saying it expected its own sales to grow despite declines on global PC sales, Intel now says sales will be flat. Intel is hoping that sales of chips for servers, tablets and smartphones will compensate for the drop-off in PC sales. The downward revision of the company's outlook is an admission that Intel chips haven't made it into many mobile devices.

IBM Corp. says net income in the latest quarter fell 17 percent as revenue slipped and it absorbed the cost of layoffs. IBM raises its annual profit outlook. It now expects to earn an adjusted $16.90 per share for the full year, above the $16.66 analysts expected.

- July 18: Microsoft Corp.'s foray into the tablet computer market is proving costly, as world's largest software company books a $900 million write-down to account for the deep price cut it applied to its Surface RT tablet earlier in the week. It was a move to spur sales amid sluggish demand.