Some of the world’s biggest technology firms have felt the cold winds of change brought about by the global banking crisis. Big brand Apple, for example, saw its shares fall 20pc yesterday.
Apple’s decline on the NASDAQ stock exchange reflected analyst fears that the company could be hurt if consumers cut back on spending if disposable income becomes impaired.
This is the lowest point in Apple’s share history over the past 16 months. As the NASDAQ closed last night, Apple Inc closed at 105.26, 4.64pc above its 52-week low of US$100.59.
Other big brands such as Research In Motion, creators of the BlackBerry, also suffered a double-digit decline of 27pc, ending last night at 11.18pc above its 52-week low of US$69.50.
Google slipped 11.61pc below US$400 for the first time in two years, while Microsoft shares fell 8.7pc to US$25.01.
Yahoo! fell 10.78pc, while online auction house eBay saw shares fall 11.61pc.
The larger, more established technology firms weathered the storm a little better with shares in IBM and HP falling 4.1pc and 6.8pc respectively.
On the New York Stock Exchange, consumer tech giant Sony saw share value decline 3.9pc yesterday.
As the world endeavours to right itself in the wake of the banking crisis, the busy Christmas sales season on which consumer tech giants such as Apple, Sony and Nintendo pin hopes will prove to be the absolute litmus test for consumer tech spending going forward.
By John Kennedy
Pictured: Apple shares take a blow. Broken iPhone (photo) owned by Scott Dierdorf (cc)
