Stock tumble hits tech biz hard

Yesterday’s stock tumble has hit tech businesses hard. Nasdaq, which is primarily tech businesses, fell nearly 200 points, and several big tech businesses saw similar drops. Apple fell 18%, AMD nearly 17%, and Intel over 10%. Similarly, Google saw its stock fall over $50 to $381 a share. That’s nearly a 12% drop.

“Apple’s business is driven by the consumer, and the consumer is getting hurt because of higher oil prices” that leave less money for cool gadgets, said Trip Chowdhry, an analyst at Global Equities Research in San Francisco. Large enterprises, such as airlines and shipping-dependent retailers, also have less money to invest in IT, he added.

The current crisis has consumers wary of doing any discretionary spending, something that is causing great concern among retailers and manufacturers. They are already facing the possibility that holiday orders may be severely restricted if the bailout currently being battled over in Congress doesn’t go through. With no bailout, credit lines will be hard to come by, and retailers rely on credit to acquire their inventory. With the holiday shopping season right around the corner, this could be disastrous.

In a prime example of the domino effect, if consumers stop buying gadgets and tech products, manufacturers will be forced to cut back on advertising, causing a possible fallout in that industry, which could then affect newspapers, magazines and other media outlets that rely on advertising to make money. According to a report by RBC Capital Markets, 40% of consumers plan on spending less money on electronics in the next 90 days. With the holiday season being the prime time for tech companies to roll out new products and make big profits, this year’s season could be far from jolly.

Read[PCWorld]