Tech Market Slumps
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The Tech market has started to stutter with Intel and Yahoo! shares crashing to their their steepest declines in more than three years, leading a slide in technology stocks after the companies reported disappointing earnings.

Now there is concern for Google. In Japan Companies like Pioneer, NEC, Sony are reporting billions in losses.

Shares of Intel, the world’s biggest chipmaker, dropped 11 percent as at least five analysts at firms including Citigroup Inc. and Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. lowered their ratings on the stock. Yahoo, owner of the most- visited Web site, slumped 13 percent. “It’s ugly stuff,” said Mike Green at Benham & Green Capital Management in the USAInvestors tripped up Google Inc.’s stock on Wednesday, after an analyst warned that the Internet giant’s shares are overvalued and momentum in
the sector is breaking. The sell off comes a day after Google, whose share price more than doubled last year, announced plans to buy radio advertising firm dMarc Broadcasting. Google shares lost $17.65, or 3.8 percent, to trade at $449.46 on the Nasdaq. Over the past 52 weeks, the company’s stock has traded between
$172.57 and $475.11. “We believe Google is an outstanding company; however, we believe its shares are overvalued,” Scott W. Devitt, an analyst at Stifel Nicolaus, said in a client note Wednesday. Devitt recommended that investors sell Google shares, lowering his rating down from “Hold.”

Devitt said that expectations for Google rose throughout 2005 and are now at a point that limits upside potential. Devitt also pointed to rival Yahoo’s disappointing results. He manages $100 million and owns Intel shares. “Their numbers are disappointing across the board.” Other stocks to crash were Apple which dropped $1.59 to $83.12. Motorola slipped 10 cents to $23.42, and Dell Inc. dropped 54 cents to $29.84. Advanced Micro Devices, Intel’s only rival in personal computer chips, reports fourth-quarter earnings today. Intel’s Chief Executive Officer, Paul Otellini, said he expects to get share back this year.

Also on the Tech front Microsoft Xbox 360 sales are struggling in Japan. It seems as though Microsoft is not having the impact they hoped they would have in Japan.
In a report from research group Media Create, Microsoft has only managed to sell 7,477 Xbox 360 consoles to the Japanese market. Currently Microsoft has lost in excess of $3 billion dollars on Xbox to date.

From Jan. 2 to Jan 8. the Xbox 360 was outsold by most handheld and console systems, including the PSP, Nintendo DS, PS2, GBA SP, GameCube, and Game Boy Micro. Also in the USA Microsoft has failed to reach its 90day Xbox 360 sales forcasts.