Gadget Stocks: 7 Developments

1. Garmin (GRMN) fell 5.1% to $92.10 on Wednesday, on a research note from CIBC saying the company will likely deliver very solid Q4 earnings, but is facing ASP declines in the U.S. and softening growth in Europe.

2. Apple (AAPL) also faced selling pressure after once again touching $200/share intra-day. Apple lost 1.6% to $194.84, mirroring the downside of the Nasdaq. Review AAPL trading strategies ahead of Macworld (and CES which starts a week earlier, from 1/7).

• The latest pre-Macworld rumor is Jay-Z is launching a record label with Apple, according to The Boy Genius Report, to which CrunchGear says "NOPE," since "Apple is banned from ever starting a record label due to previous litigation with the Beatle’s Apple Records."

3. Netflix (NFLX) and LG Electronics plan to offer a set-top box to deliver movies and other programming directly to TVs via the Internet from the second-half of the year. Pricing details were not provided. Similar boxes by Apple and Vudu cost $299 to $399. The WSJ comments: "So far, Internet television products such as Apple Inc.'s Apple TV have largely been unsuccessful, stymied by a poor selection of videos, complexity of use and other shortcomings."

4. Hitachi Global Storage Technologies announced the world's largest capacity 2.5" mobile hard drive at 500GB to be available in Feb. for $400. Asus will offer the world's first 1TB notebook utilizing two of Hitachi's (HIT) 500GB drives. In late December, Hitachi denied a rumor that it had decided to sell its hard drive business, but did say it is exploring "every possibility" as it focuses on improving business operations.

5. Lenovo (LNVGY.PK) unveiled its new consumer brand notebook PC: "IdeaPad." (See Gizmodo review). Lenovo wants to expand its 11% global market share beyond businesses, but faces tough price competition. Some analysts question if consumers will pay up for IdeaPad ($799 to $1,199) or settle for similar functionality with for instance, an Acer under $700.

6. SanDisk (SNDK) introduced a new (apparently the first of its kind) flash storage drive featuring an automatic web backup capability.

7. AP reports Sony (SNE) and Toshiba (TOSBF.PK) will display wireless HDTVs at CES. Intel (INTC) is expected to join the Sony/Toshiba led WirelessHD consortium later today.