In addition, comScore Friday had good news for e-commerce, reporting that 2010 fourth-quarter online retail sales estimates reached a record US$43.4 billion, an increase of 11 percent compared to the year-earlier figure. The growth was the fifth consecutive quarter of year-over-year increases, comScore said.

Market growth in the tech sector recently has been ascribed mainly to strong sales for business IT vendors, but the comScore figures come as a vote of confidence in the consumer retail arena.

"Retail e-commerce had a strong fourth quarter, growing 11 percent versus last year as holiday season spending was bolstered by an improving sentiment among some consumer segments and by retailers' discounting and promotions," .

During the week, vendors of corporate software reported strong sales, echoing results from their larger counterparts earlier in the season.

Business service and automation software maker BMC Wednesday reported that revenue for the quarter ending Dec. 31 was $540 million, a record and up 6 percent from the year earlier. Net income was $109 million, down from $111 million a year earlier. Excluding one-time charges, however, income was $143 million, up 1 percent from 2010.