Demand for mobile devices is surging in markets around the world, and Research In Motion says it’s making headway in places outside of its native North America. “All the real subscriber growth is international,” said Maribel Lopez of Lopez Research. “You have to sell phones in India, China and other developing countries or you’ll miss the opportunity to onboard the next billion mobile users.”

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Sony will lay off 10,000 workers, or about 6 percent of its global workforce, as part of an overall corporate restructuring plan, according to a report. The cutbacks are set to take place over the next two fiscal years. It’s unclear when the Japanese company will start slashing jobs or which divisions will take the hardest hits.

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Rumors that Yahoo was prepping for a huge round of layoffs have turned out to be true. On Wednesday, the company announced it would lay off 2,000 employees under a plan designed to prepare it for the future. Scott Thompson, the company’s recently appointed CEO, said Yahoo’s larger goal was to focus on its core competency of online advertising — and it was the pursuit of that goal that required the company to eliminate so many positions.

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Best Buy is taking an ax to its big box retail business model. The company plans to close 50 of its larger stores and test new store formats in San Antonio and Minneapolis. The formats will be so-called "connected stores" that will emphasize tech support and wireless products. They will feature checkout lanes designed to speed shoppers through the buying process, as well as hubs to better assist them.

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In a sweeping reorganization of its operations, HP is merging its Imaging and Printing Group with its Personal Systems Group, the unit that makes the company’s computers. The news delivered a jolt to the industry when it leaked on Tuesday. Although HP’s star has dimmed somewhat since its high-flying days in the 1980s and 90s, it remains a major player.

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