Dell should be on the lookout for a 'thank you' card from Gigabyte, which saw strong on-month and on-year revenue growthrates to the tune of 55.1 percent and 41.1 percent, respectively, in January 2010 mostly because of server and storage system orders placed by Dell.

The mostly short-term orders won't do much to bolster Gigabyte's long term outlook, but according to some analysts, it will help Gigabyte see better revenues performance than nearly all of its motherboard competitors.

The server and storage orders came at a good time. Gigabyte has struggled a bit in the notebook sector, shipping only about 300,000 units in 2009 and failing to meet the company's expectations. Meanwhile, Gigabyte's handset subsidiary is seeing losses, though the vendor expects both of these segments to see significant improvement in 2010.

According to a new report from research firm Research and Markets, netbook shipments will end the year with a bang, shipping twice as many units as 2008. That's pretty impressive, and with prices continuing to fall, it seems netbooks are destined to keep selling like hot cakes. Or are they?

The research firm predicts that the market will slow somewhat in 2010 as manufacturers cope with increasingly slimmer profit margins.

"In order to expand netbook PC market coverage, other than increasing product differentiation to stimulate demand in the existing mature consumer markets," states the report, "PC companies also aim to seek new market opportunities in the education, commercial, and emerging market segments, as well as new distribution channels and new offerings."

The report went on to say that competition from Nokia and Apple could heat things up in 2010, including the release of the rumored Apple Tablet sometime next year.

In a few more days, Black Friday will be here, and if you plan on braving the crowds, that means getting up early (or staying up late) and making a mad dash for the electronics section among a frenzy of shoppers with no qualms about pushing, shoving, and trampling anyone who gets in their way. But should your reach your destination unscathed, you may find that the deals are nothing to get excited over considering stores have already had to mark prices down in the current economic climate, or that quantities are so low that if you're not near the front of the line donning a pair of running shoes, you're going to miss out.

CNNMoney.com reveals that in some cases, stores may stock as little as 3 units of those enticing low-priced electronics advertised in your local flier. Sale items could also be "derivatives" of the real deal, such as a large screen HDTV with lower image quality or a less desirable image contrast.

"It's a sleazy practice," said Craig Johnson, retailing expert and president of retail consulting group Customer Growth Partners. "I am old school. If a retailer is advertising a juicy deal and they are not prepared to have in sufficient quantity, don't advertise it. Or give consumers a raincheck."

Read the full report here.