News Summary: Investors sour on PC stalwarts

PC CRASH: Investors dumped the stocks of personal computer bellwethers Microsoft Corp. and Hewlett-Packard Co. on the latest evidence that laptop and desktop machines are quickly falling out of favor.

BSD? Thursday's declines followed the Wednesday release of separate reports documenting double-digit sales decreases in PCs during the first three months of the year — the worst drop ever in the PC industry.

DOES NOT COMPUTE: More consumers and businesses are embracing smartphones and tablets as preferred computing and communications devices. Windows 8, Microsoft Corp.'s radical makeover of the dominant PC operating system, also turned off prospective buyers.