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Analysts including Shaw Wu at American Technology Research in San Francisco said consumer spending may slow this year, and researchers already had forecast a slump in the growth of corporate technology budgets.
Technology Spending
Technology spending growth in the U.S. will drop to 4.8 percent this year from 5.3 percent in 2007, according to Forrester Research Inc. in Cambridge, Massachusetts. That will mark the third straight year of slowing budget increases, the researcher said.
The Nasdaq's 5.6 percent decline so far this year is the worst start since the electronic market opened in 1971. The Standard & Poor's 500 Information Technology Index fell the most in five years.
The sell-off today ``appears to be panic selling,'' Wu said in an e-mailed response to questions. ``Consumer spending may become weaker, but we continue to believe Apple is positioned to do relatively better than most.''
Wu and Munster are among 25 analysts tracked by Bloomberg who recommend investors buy Cupertino, California-based Apple's shares, which more than doubled last year amid optimism for sales of its Macintosh computers and iPhone handsets.
``I don't see any reason why Apple's momentum and ability to buck the trend is going to change,'' said Munster. He predicts Apple shares will climb to $250 this year on demand for Macs, iPhones and iPod media players.
Intel Falls
Intel Corp., the largest semiconductor maker, fell the most in two years after JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut its rating on the stock, the second downgrade in three days. Intel declined $2, or 8.1 percent, to $22.67, the most since January 2006.
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