Apple revenues reach a record $75.9 billion with profits worth $18.4bn on fiscal Q1 2016, with international sales accounting for 66% of the quarterly results.

“Our team delivered Apple’s biggest quarter ever, thanks to the world’s most innovative products and all-time record sales of iPhone, Apple Watch and Apple TV,” CEO Tim Cook says. “The growth of our Services business accelerated during the quarter to produce record results, and our installed base recently crossed a major milestone of one billion active devices.”

However the company does show signs of slowdown, as the aforementioned record revenues reflect an increase of just 2% Y-o-Y-- a distinct decline from the 30% Y-o-Y growth seen back in fiscal Q1 2015. The company attributes such decline to slowing iPhone sales in the mature US and Japanese markets, as well as currency woes and economic slowdown hitting the rest of the world.

In a move bringing the start of a phone accessory making empire Zagg acquires Mophie for $100 million-- creating a "diversified leader" in battery cases, external batteries, screen protectors and tablet keyboards.

Zagg makes products ranging from smartphone cases to keyboards. On the other hand Mophie is best known for iPhone and Android smartphone battery cases and external batteries packs. The deal creates a company with combined 2015 net sales of around $470m, as well as increased product creation capability and expanded global distribution channels.

According to both the Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg Foxconn is bidding around $5.3 billion for struggling Japanese electronics maker Sharp, with a decision to take place by end January 2016.

Such an acquisition would be the biggest for the Taiwanese contract manufacturer since the 2009 $5.3 billion takeover of Innolux, the Chi Mei Optoelectronics display-making unit. Foxconn already offered to invest in Sharp back in 2012, but the two companies failed to agree on management control, leading Sharp to turn to government-backed Innovation Network Corp of Japan (INCJ) for funding.

AMD revenues drop by -23% Y-o-Y to $958 million in Q4 2015, even as the company manage to narrow net losses from $330m in Q4 2014 to $102m, the result of seasonally lower semi-custom SoC sales.

Also to blame is (perhaps obviously) client processor sale decline-- the ailing PC industry brought about a -29% decline in AMD computing business revenues reaching $470m with $99m operating loss. Further hitting the company are declining game console royalties and lower server and embedded revenues.

The quarter did see AMD gross margin increase to 30%, a figure affected by a 2015 inventory write-down worth $65m (the result of selling older-gen APUs at a loss).

Intel beats Wall Street estimates in Q4 2015, with revenues reaching $14.9 billion (slightly higher than forecasts of $14.8bn) while full-year 2015 revenues total $55.4bn.

Net income for Q4 2015 totals $3.6bn, a -1% Y-o-Y decrease.

“Our results for the fourth quarter marked a strong finish to the year and were consistent with expectations,” CEO Brian Krzanich says. “Our 2015 results demonstrate that Intel is evolving and our strategy is working. This year, we’ll continue to drive growth by powering the infrastructure for an increasingly smart and connected world.”

As one might expect from Intel talk of a "Post-PC" identity, the company is busy trying to transition away from PCs-- an industry still in decline, as Client Computing Group (covers PC and mobile efforts) revenues drop by -1% Y-o-Y to $8.8bn. The company adits 2015 was a year lacking in desktop enterprise upgrades, and as such hopes 2016 will be the year of commercial transition from Windows 7 to Windows 10.

As 2015 heads to a close, it is customary to reflect on the year it has been. So join us as we check what we think are the top CIT stories of the past 365-or-so days...

2015, Year of the Smartwatch: It has been some time coming, but 2015 is the year where the smartwatch became less of a curio and more of an actual device desired by regular consumers. The Apple Watch was, of course, the market's main drivers, but other vendors were quick to follow with similar wrist-worn devices.

Virtual Reality Edges Towards the Mainstream: 2015 did not actually see the release of any big name virtual reality headsets, but news involving the revamped product category came thick and fast. The Facebook-owned Oculus revealed the final version of the Rift, as did Samsung with the smartphone-powered Gear VR. Meanwhile Google presented an update on the View-Master, and even Valve announced a collaboration with HTC in VR headsets.

In Japan, Nikkei reports on a deal that could re-shape the face of PC distribution, Toshiba, Fujitsu and Vaio might merge their PC operations creating a "top player" holding around 30% share of the Japanese market and 6% of global market (just under Apple's current global ranking.)

Negotiations on the deal should take place sometime in December, with expectations of a combined company launch in April 2016.

Nikkei adds the companies would unite under the Vaio brand name, with the combined entity integrating domestic and overseas operations, from R&D to production and sales.

Toshiba and Fujitsu already have an interest in Vaio-- the companies fund Japan Industrial Partners, the top Vaio shareholder.

Samsung announces on of the biggest leadership changes since de facto leader Jay Y Lee took over, Reuters reports-- Dongjin Koh replaces JK Shin as president of the Samsung mobile communication business.

JK Shin has served as mobile communication head since 2009. He remains head of the Samsung overall mobile division, if with a "focus on long-term strategy and developming new growth business" rather than day-to-day operations, a move some analysts describe as retirement in all but name. JK Shin was the man behind the rise of the Galaxy smartphone line... and its eventual (relative) decline.

"While it's true that Shin delivered remarkable performance in the past, it's indisputable that the Galaxy S6's results fell short of expectations so a new leader was needed," Hansung University economics Professor Kim Sang-jo tells Reuters. "Today's appointments appear to acknowledge the need to develop a management system that can more proactively respond to challenges from Xiaomi and other Chinese companies."