IDC - News, Features, and Slideshows

News

• China has the fastest supercomputer, but the US still rules

  China continues to hold the top spot in the Top 500 supercomputer list, but the US still dominates, with 90 per cent of the systems on the list made by US vendors.

• Eight Internet things that are not IoT

  Cisco's proclamations on the value of the Internet of Things/Everything market -- $14.4 trillion -- would seem to include everything but the kitchen sink... and maybe even that if it's IP-enabled.

• Wall Street Beat: Despite Oracle earnings miss, software appears healthy

  An earnings miss by Oracle is usually enough to send tech market forecasters back to their spreadsheets with furrowed brows. But despite the enterprise software giant's weaker-than-expected financials, there was enough good news on the tech sales front this week to keep expectations for IT on the optimistic side.

• Microsoft sneak peaks future IE with dev channel

  Microsoft on Monday launched a developers' channel of Internet Explorer that will be regularly updated to give website and Web app designers and developers an early look at what the company plans with its browser.

• iPhone to keep punching revenue above its weight class

  Apple's iPhone may continue to shed global market share in the next five years, but its portion of total revenue will remain stable because Apple will resist slashing iPhone prices, a research analyst said today.

• PC sales this year look just slightly better, IDC says

  The skies have brightened slightly since March for the beleaguered PC, with sales now likely to fall by just 6 percent this year, according to research company IDC.

• Windows 7 powers more than half of all PCs

  As Windows XP continued its decline, users who deserted the obsolete operating system shifted to Windows 7, not the newer Windows 8, more circumstantial evidence that commercial customers, not consumers, now drive PC sales.

• Smartphone prices are dropping, and will continue to dip through '18

  Average global smartphone prices have dropped and will continue to do so into 2018, according to IDC.

• IDC drops tablet sales forecast, sees phablets encroaching on the market

  IDC has lowered its forecast for tablet sales for 2014 by 6.3%, pointing to the cannibalization of small tablets by larger smartphones known as "phablets."

• Windows XP's US farewell tour to last most of '14

  Last-minute moves by businesses to scrap Windows XP may have offset the continued free fall in consumer spending, but that gift from XP won't help the PC industry for long.

• IDC cuts IT spending forecast on mobile slump, emerging market uncertainty

  A slowdown in the growth rate for tablet and mobile phone sales and economic uncertainty in emerging markets are putting a damper on global IT spending, according to IDC.

• Data bloat? Six ways you can trim fat for lean information governance in 2014

  Just like the pounds that can creep up on us over the years if we're not careful, an enterprise can accumulate massive amounts of data. In fact, IDC predicts that enterprise data growth will average around 50% each year through 2016 and storage costs are expected to consume close to 20% of the typical IT budget in 2014.

• Office for iPad apps ring up 27M downloads

  Microsoft on Monday said that customers had downloaded about 27 million copies of the Office for iPad apps in six weeks, a "promising" figure that one analyst said still lacks important contextual details.

• Microsoft's late to the mini tablet market, but still has a shot at sales

  Microsoft may be ready to roll out a small tablet later than rivals, but analysts say a petite Surface is still a good idea.

• The Internet of Things likely to drive an upheaval for security

  The Internet of Things is likely to bring 'a major inflection point in security' sooner than you think.