They were “CrackBerry” addicts — fans so devoted to the BlackBerry that being without it caused withdrawals. Madonna confessed on TV to Oprah Winfrey that she slept with her BlackBerry smartphone. Corporate leaders were equally passionate. “No one else had what they offered,” said Jack Gold, principal of research firm J. Gold Associates. “They fundamentally changed the handheld market.” BlackBerry (BBRY) was founded in 1984 in
The term creative destruction is thrown around a lot, but Amazon truly ushered in a new industry while disrupting several others. It wrote the book on e-commerce, spreading from its bookselling roots into a behemoth that brought down brick-and-mortar rivals with superior service and execution, to linking new and unlikely businesses in novel ways. Amazon (AMZN), founded in 1994 by CEO Jeff Bezos in his garage, started as an online
Google reported weaker-than-expected first-quarter earnings and revenue late Wednesday as overseas growth failed to meet analyst expectations. Per-share profit ex items rose 4.5% to $6.27, up from a revised $6 a year earlier. Analysts expected $6.39, according to Thomson Reuters. Google (GOOGL) on April 3 split its shares 2 for 1, so its year-earlier EPS has been halved. Google also retroactively removed the loss from Motorola