On Thursday Microsoft (NasdaqGS: MSFT) announced that sales of its new Xbox gaming system hit 2 million units in its first eighteen days on the market, almost identical to sales of 2.1 million for Sony’s most recent release of its PlayStation device.  Combined with higher than expected sales of its Surface 2 tablet, it appears that whomever takes over as CEO will not be under as much pressure to reinvent the company as many thought.

Cisco Systems (NasdaqGS: CSCO) announced a reduced revenue outlook for 2014, providing guidance of 3 – 6% annual growth over the next several years.  The stock dropped 12% on the news, which has subsequently leveled off at around $21/share.   

On November 18^th Micron Technology (NasdaqGS: MU) revealed that it has developed an entirely new computing architecture, the Automata Processor or “AP”, that is capable of very high-speed search and analysis of complex data inputs.  Potential business applications of the AP include a wide variety of scientific, national defense and cyber security tools.

Baidu, the provider of China’s largest search engine, will merge its public cloud storage services with the private cloud platform of Western Digital (NasdaqGS: WDC), providing a secure hybrid storage option for Baidu’s 100 million users.