Apple too has been affected by the crunch

The NPD, an institute that measures sales of electronics in the United States, is unequivocal: Mac and iPod sales have fallen sharply in recent weeks.

At last Apple, for which quarterly growth seemed unstoppable while the rest of the industry was collapsing around it, has been hit by the crunch. The fall in sales recorded by NPD is very limited at only 1.8% for the Mac and 9% for the iPod range. Note however that NPD doesn’t have direct access to Apple Store figures or online sales.

This contraction is a lot less severe than was predicted by analysts who suggested a fall of more like 10% in sales of Apple computers.