AP - Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said Wednesday it has hired an auto-industry veteran to help drive shoppers from the retailer's grocery and sundries aisles into the fashions and electronics departments.

Reuters - Seagate Technology , the biggest U.S. hard-disk drive maker, on Wednesday said quarterly profit climbed amid growing demand for consumer electronics and notebook computers.

AP - RadioShack Corp. stock rose Friday after Prudential analyst Mark Rowen upgraded his rating on the stock to "overweight" from "neutral," saying that 2006 could be the year when the consumer electronics retailer "gets its groove back."

Reuters - Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. (005930.KS) posted a 40 percent rise in quarterly profits on Friday, marking its first growth in five quarters, on soaring demand for flat screens and chips used in mobile phones and MP3 players.

AP - The electronics retailer RadioShack Corp. on Thursday reaffirmed its 2005 earnings will miss its goal even as it reported total sales rose 5 percent in the fourth quarter, including 4 percent growth at stores open at least one year.

Reuters - Consumer electronics retailer RadioShack Corp. on Thursday said fourth-quarter sales at stores open at least a year rose 4 percent, but 2005 earnings would miss its goal.

AP - Best Buy Co. Inc. named Brian Dunn as president and chief operating officer on Wednesday, and named a chief executive for the expanding international operation of the nation's largest consumer electronics retailer.

AP - Best Buy Co. Inc. named Brian Dunn as president and chief operating officer on Wednesday, and named a chief executive for the expanding international operation of the nation's largest consumer electronics retailer.

Reuters - Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. (005930.KS) is set to report on Friday its fourth-quarter profit rose by about a fifth, driven by soaring demand for NAND flash chips and flat screen panels for large televisions.

Reuters - Computer maker Dell Inc. on Friday cut its estimate of what it will cost the company to expense options awarded as employee compensation in fiscal year 2007 by 8 cents a share.

AP - Best Buy Co. Inc., the nation's largest consumer electronics retailer, said Friday that late-shopping customers and higher average purchases boosted December sales by 12 percent overall, and it said fourth quarter earnings would be near the top of its earlier guidance.

Reuters - Microsoft Corp. Chairman Bill Gates paid $6.2 million for an additional 70 shares of Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRKa.N) (BRKb.N), increasing his stake in the company to nearly $400 million.

Reuters - Portable digital media and myriad devices connected to the Internet dominated the biggest U.S. technology trade show on Thursday, underscoring how entertainment has broken free of the living room.

Reuters - Microsoft Corp. Chairman Bill Gates took the wraps off its next-generation operating system known as Windows Vista on Wednesday, displaying features aimed at positioning the software giant as the entertainment hub for a future of digitally connected homes.

Reuters - South Korea's Samsung Electronics (005930.KS) said on Wednesday it expects North American revenue in 2006 of $20 billion or more due to demand for digital electronics.

AFP - A year-end spending splurge by Japanese consumers on flat-panel televisions, overseas holidays and other luxuries is helping to underpin an upbeat outlook for the world's number two economy.

Reuters - A dearth of must-have fashions and stronger demand for electronics may have trimmed holiday apparel sales, likely disappointing retailers who hoped to cash in on the traditional year-end bounce, analysts said Tuesday.

Reuters - South Korea's Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. (005930.KS) is in talks to sell a large volume of NAND flash chips to Japanese electronics maker Sony Corp. (6758.T), with a deal likely early next year, a newspaper reported on Monday.

AP - Electronics retailer Best Buy. Co. Inc. said it is buying a California kitchen and bath retailer for $410 million.