Apple US Sales Drop 6% In January 2009

Apple's record financial performance for 2008 was held up by many as a shining example of quality products blazing through the financial downturn.  That celebration may have been premature, however; the Wall Street Journal are reporting that Apple's sales of computers dropped by 6-percent in January 2009, compared to the same month last year, the company's first monthly loss in three years.

They're the stats according to market-research firm NPD Group, who are saying that even would-be Apple customers are being forced to reconsider their new purchases.  According to NPD analyst Stephen Baker, "casual buyers or people who are trying to make a choice are trading down" and that has led to Apple's retail market share, which is measured in units, falling from 16.4-percent to 13.7-percent in January 2009.

Meanwhile the dollar value of Apple's high-ticket-price machines has fallen through January, as sales have slowed.  NPD estimate an 11-percent fall in the value of Apple sales, a sharp contrast to the 13-percent rise in January of PC sales.  This, the analysts suggest, is from an increase in cheap netbook sales.

[via Guardian Unlimited]