market share

Between 2002 and 2011, companies spent a whopping $2.5 billion on Super Bowl advertising; this year, a 30-second commercial cost an average of $3.5 million. But what do you get for all that cash. In the case of these eight major advertisers, not as much as they'd hoped.

These should be exciting times for Wendy's: It has revamped its burgers, spun off Arby's, expanded back into Japan, and is going to take another crack at the breakfast game. But despite all that, its share price is around the cost of its value meals, and that's unlikely to change.

It's not paranoia -- you really are surrounded by Androids. Google's mobile OS is now running on 200 million activated gadgets, matching the number running Apple's iOS. And recently, the 10 billionth Android app was downloaded.

Stephen Elop may be thrilled to have his first year as CEO of Nokia out of the way. After all, in the past 12 months, the struggling mobile-phone maker has seen its share price and market share plummet, and the bad news just keeps coming. But it's too soon to count Elop out.

Hyundai and its stablemate Kia have been taking U.S. auto market share gradually for more than two decades. Lately, though, those chunks have gotten bigger. The South Korean car makers' sales are expected to surge almost 25% in September compared to the same month year ago.

Toyota will announce Friday that by September, it expects to have all of its North American plants back to their normal production levels. Then, it can begin attempting to recoup the U.S. market share it lost due to shortages related to the Japan earthquake and tsunami, as well as a slew of recalls.

Apple recently introduced iMessage, a new service that lets users send text messages, photos and videos between all Apple devices. This could challenge Research in Motion's BlackBerry Messenger service, which has been a unique selling point as the company struggles to compete with Google's Android and Apple's iPhone.

As the competition between home improvement heavyweights Lowe's and Home Depot intensifies, customer service is emerging as one of the key features on which they will need to innovate. Lowe's latest attempt is a new incentive program for customers paying with the store's credit card.

If you're nearing retirement, Procter & Gamble (PG) might be a good addition to your stock portfolio. Its personal care focus, its history of creating new products, its near 50% dividend payout and its strong cash flow give it a stable outlook and make it a compelling choice for those looking to buy and hold.

In an attempt to reverse the market-share free fall it has been experiencing, Motorola Mobility has recently been trying to ramp up the pace of its product launches. But its rush to get hot new devices on the market has hit a couple of speed bumps with delays on the Droid Bionic and the Xoom LTE.