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With Apple reporting a decline in profit margins and Samsung consolidating its leadership in the mobile device market, earnings results and market research reports this week point to the ever-increasing importance of smartphones as key to growth in tech.

Just as tech stocks were starting to rise this week, dismal PC sales reports for the first quarter burst the very short-lived bubble, causing shares of IT companies to fall back to earth Thursday.

In a filing to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday, Dell highlighted the dismal financial straits that led to its plan to take the company private, a move that now has some major shareholders in an uproar.

While U.S. markets have surged lately, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average hitting milestone after milestone in 10 straight days of advances, a relatively modest increase in the value of IT company shares reflects the reality that a rising tide will not lift all boats in the tech sector.

Economic uncertainty tamped down the number and value of technology mergers and acquisitions in 2012 and this year may not look much different, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).

The growing number of shareholders voicing opposition to Dell's US$24.4 billion plan to go private appears to be putting the company increasingly on the defensive, raising questions about the terms of the deal.

Despite some caution about the fortunes of BlackBerry, Facebook and Apple, solid financial results from tech vendors coupled with positive reports about the economy are boosting confidence in IT, with share prices of computer, consumer electronics and Internet companies rising this week.

Despite Microsoft's quarterly profit decline and Apple's fall Friday from its position as the world's most highly valued company, this week's wave of earnings reports was strong, boosting markets to highs not seen since before the recession.

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A U.S. International Trade Comission judge is recommending sanctions against Samsung that include an import and sales ban on products found to infringe Apple patents, and the posting of a bond for 88 percent of the value of some of the devices involved in the case.