Nokia steps back into the consumer electronics business after the 2013 sale of its mobile business to Microsoft as it acquires French health and wearables company Withings for €170 million in cash.

The deal is described as the start of a "new chapter" for Nokia, since it involves the creation of a digital health business within the company headed by Withings CEO Cédric Hutchings.

"With this acquisition, Nokia is strengthening its position in the Internet of Things in a way that leverages the power of our trusted brand, fits with our company purpose of expanding the human possibilities of the connected world, and puts us at the heart of a very large addressable market where we can make a meaningful difference in peoples' lives," Nokia CEO Rajeev Suri says.

An investment consortium led by printer cartridge maker Apex Technology and equity firm PAG Asia Capital agrees to buy Lexmark in an all-cash deal worth $3.6 billion.

“This is an exciting transaction that Lexmark’s board of directors believes is in the best interests of our shareholders,” Lexmark CEO Paul Rooke says. “The transaction will benefit our customers and provide new opportunities for our employees.”

Following the deal operations at Lexmark are supposed to remain unaffected, with Rooke continuing his tenure as CEO.

The ongoing PC decline is hitting Intel hard-- so much so it is slashing 12000 jobs (or 11% of its workforce) as part of a restructuring effort to depend less on PCs and more on the cloud and the Internet of Things.

News of the job cuts come through an email to employees from CEO Brian Krzanich. It states the announcement "is about accelerating our growth strategy. And it’s about driving long-term change to further establish Intel as the leader for the smart, connected world." Whatever the reasons, Chipzilla staff will know whether they made the cut once the company starts holding global "site consolidations," as well as both voluntary and involuntary redundancies, over the next 60 days.

Reuters reports this week should see an end to the delays affecting the Foxconn acquisition of Sharp-- only the takeover will involve a "smaller bailout" for the ailing Japanese company.

How smaller is Foxconn offer for Sharp? According to a pair of anonymous sources Foxconn slashed the price tag by ¥100 billion (around $884 million). In addition the sources say the two companies are to hold board meetings on Wednesday to approve the deal before signing the deal on the following day.

Predictably neither company has commented on the Reuters story.

Apple confirms earlier rumours as it announces 21 March 2016 as the date for its next event-- one revealed through rose gold-hued press invites bearing the cryptic slogan "let us loop you in."

The event takes place at the Apple 1 Infinite Loop campus in Cupertino, California. It is expected to involve a number of devices, such as a smaller 9.7-inch iPad Pro, a 4-inch iPhone (dubbed the SE) and a variety of new Apple Watch band options (rumours suggest a nylon band a Space Black Milanese Loop). Some sources also say Mac refreshes will make a showing, although the grapevine gives no fruit on that regard as yet.

The Microsoft HoloLens might soon find a big name rival in the augmented reality (AR) battlegrounds-- the Wall Street Journal reports Intel is the next company to take on the headset field.

According to the WSJ, the Intel headset makes use of RealSense 3D camera technology, and as such can be seen as a Chipzilla attempt to push the imaging technology to the mass market. In addition the company has also spent around $500 million to buy 5 companies working on AR technology, and is also investing and teaming up with others.

A wrench gets thrown in Western Digital's plans to buy SanDisk-- Chinese IT company Unisplendour Corporation Limited (Unis) scraps its $3.78 billion investment deal with WD.

Unis, a unit of Tsinghua Holdings, dropped plans to buy a 15% stake in WD after the US Committee on Foreign Investment (CFIUS) announced an investigation of the deal. The decision triggered a 15-day period where either period could end the transaction... and that's exactly what the Chinese company did.

WD hopes to be still able to buy SanDisk, but the lack of Unis investment demands a change in asking price. Whereas it originally offered $19bn in cash and stock, WD is now asking shareholders to consider selling for $15.8bn.

Sharp confirmed earlier reports with the announcement it is being bought out by Foxconn-- but hardly a day passed before the Taiwanese giant announced it is delaying the acquisition until it assesses the financial risks involved in buying the ailing Japanese firm.

The Sharp takeover is worth around $6.24 billion (or ¥700bn), and is the first (and largest) acquisition of a major Japanese company by a foreign entity. Reportedly Foxconn has been chasing after Sharp for 5 years, since owning the Japanese company provides technological leverage against the likes of Samsung, not to mention access to lucrative Apple display contracts.