Mika Kitagawa

The NPD Group reports that unit sales of Mac computers fell 16 percent in the United States last month, even as Windows-based PC sales rose 22 percent, driven by demand for low-cost netbooks.

Even in the typically strong notebook segment, NPD noted, unit sales of MacBook laptops fell seven percent in February, whereas Windows laptops jumped 36 percent. If not for the strong netbook sales, however, Windows laptops would have risen only 16 percent.

Dell said its revenue declined 16 percent year-over-year to $13.4 billion in its last business quarter, which ended Jan. 30. The company also reported its quarterly net income fell 48 percent to $351 million when factoring in previously announced pretax expenses of $277 million.

To counter what is proving an increasingly "uncertain and challenging IT market," Dell executives told investors on Thursday that the company will implement an additional $1 billion in cost cuts within the next 24 months.

In response to a down economy and a slowing PC industry, Intel has slashed the prices of its processors. The chipmaker cut the price of its Core 2 Quad chips by up to 40 percent and continued the theme with less-dramatic price cuts across its line.

Specifically, Intel's mobile Celeron chips and single-processor Xeon chips also saw price cuts. The decision to slash prices puts Intel's processors closer to par with rival AMD's products, but may put strain on the company to meet its price-performance goals.

Acer outdueled Asus in the third quarter to become the world's No. 1 seller of mini-notebook PCs, according to DisplaySearch and Gartner.

Though Asus essentially created the mini-notebook segment in late 2007, DisplaySearch reports that Acer was able to capture more than 35 percent of the market globally in the third quarter, stripping market share from its main rival. Gartner confirmed that the rivals have swapped market-share slots.

Dell has rolled out a new mini-notebook PC in Japan that is slated to launch globally next month at a retail price of under $600.

Tipping the scales at 2.72 lbs and measuring just 0.92 inches thick, the Inspiron Mini 12 integrates Bluetooth and Wi-Fi (802.11b/g) radios, 1GB of RAM, a 12.1-inch WXGA display, a built-in Webcam, and a 60GB or 80GB hard disk drive. In addition to Windows Vista Home Basic, users can elect to run Windows XP or Ubuntu Linux.

Computer shipments rose faster than expected in the second quarter, fueled by exceptional demand in emerging markets and a decline in prices in the U.S. and Western Europe, a research group said Wednesday.

Worldwide shipments increased 16 percent from a year ago to 71.9 million PCs, according to Stamford, Conn.-based Gartner Inc. The company had predicted 11.2 percent growth.

Global PC shipments during this year's first quarter rose 12.3 percent in comparison with year-earlier results, say researchers at Gartner Client Computing. By contrast, PC shipments in the U.S. grew just three percent year over year to 15.2 million units.

Preliminary results show that PC sales in the U.S. were "modestly affected" by a downturn in the nation's economy, said Gartner analyst Mika Kitagawa. Though there was no one obvious indication of a "fundamental change" in market conditions, Kitagawa noted that the U.S. market is undeniably softening.