Groupon, Microsoft: Tech Winners & Losers (Update 1)

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Groupon's(GRPN) shares suffered after Chairman and Co-founder Eric Lefkofsky said in a blog post that he plans to step back from day-to-day work with the company so he can dedicate more time and attention to his venture-capital firm, Lightbank.

"I look forward to continuing to work with Groupon CEO Andrew Mason in my ongoing role as Chairman of the Board, but in the meantime, I've immersed myself in Lightbank and am focused on growing the company and working with Managing Partner Brad Keywell and the rest of the Lightbank team to try to define what it should be as it matures," Lefkofsky wrote.

Groupon has fallen 66.33% since its IPO, making it the worst-performing IPO of the last year, according to a Bloomberg report. Shares closed down 7.57% at $8.79 on Tuesday.

Research in Motion(RIMM) closed down 1.87% at $7.35 on Tuesday, despite chatter in the blogosphere about the company's product roadmap.

The BlackBerryOS.com blog reported that BlackBerry 10 would be released in the first quarter of 2013. The report also said the latest BlackBerry would be launched in Europe next January -- 3 to 4 weeks prior to the launch in North America.

Microsoft's(MSFT) assertion that the $6.2 billion asset impairment charge it announced on Monday will not impact its ongoing business or financial performance seems to resonate with investors. The software giant's shares closed up 0.65% to $30.76 on Tuesday.

Shares of Micron(MU) rose a day after the company announced the acquisition of bankrupt Japanese rival Elpida Memory Inc and a stake in Rexchip Electronics.