This week the bad numbers kept rolling in.
Sprint Nextel will cut 8,000 staff, or 15% of its total workforce, with the aim of saving $1.2 billion.
Sony's quarterly net fell 95% as revenues shrunk by a quarter. Electronics, and TV sales in particular, were holding it back, analysts said.
Toshiba forecast a record annual loss of around $3.1 billion, saying the collapse in sales "far exceeded all expectations".
Qualcomm warned that that weaker demand for 3G phones this year would cut its profit by up to 16%.
SK Telecom's profit dropped 22% due to price discounts and lower wireless internet revenue.
AT&T's Q4 net fell 23% but its full-year profit was up 7.7% as a result of demand for iPhone and IP services.
Google and partners set up an online lab to help users find out whether their broadband services are being "shaped" by their ISPs. Google accounted for 90% of the growth in the US search market in 2008, Comscore found.
Huawei Technologies filed more patent applications than any other company last year, according to the World Intellectual Property Organization.
Vodafone CEO Vittorio Coloa said a closer collaboration between his firm, China Mobile and Verizon Wireless would make them "unbeatable".
The UK government will legislate to require ISPs to collect personal details of heavy downloaders to help copyright holders take legal action. In the US AT&T and Comcast have reportedly agreed to join the latest music industry effort to combat illegal file trading.
Telenor caved in to shareholder pressure and abandoned a planned rights issue in favor of a $1.2 billion loan to fund its Indian 3G startup.
Bangladeshi authorities filed charges against 38 employees of Bangladesh Telecom, alleging they had misappropriated $5 million in funds for the carrier's non-functioning telegraph office.
Vladimir Putin rejected an offer from Michael Dell to help Russian companies make better use of technology.
Cisco unveiled a new energy management tool that it says can help monitor and direct the energy consumption of networks, devices and buildings.
AMD launched new high-end processors. Microsoft released its newest browser.
Cybercriminals are using URL-shortening service TinyURL to redirect web surfers to pages containing viruses and other malware.
And a US legislator has proposed a law that will mandate an audible "click" sound on camphones to prevent children being secretly photographed in public.