I know this is crazy talk, but how does a 6% drop in computer sales compare to say AMD or Intel CPU sales or Dell, HP computer sales?

6% is a meaningless # as you don't provide any perspective/reference of how this falls in the overall industry. I imagine 6% YoY in the current economic environment is probably BETTER than most other companies are doing in these times. How about, I don't know, doing a little journalism - but again those darn facts may get in the way of another good Nick story.
I suspect saying Apple is experiencing less of a decline then it's competitors doesn't fit the Farrell agenda though? Much better to spin it in the other direction, eh?

@Doug Glass: you win
@Daniel: you loose

Very nice vocabulary you have...I'm sure your mother is proud of the success you have become.

Yes of course I have used Macs as recently as a few days ago......compared with my high spec PC (costing the same) the mac was slow and unresponsive. Just open your eyes and compare hardware...specs do not lie.

Fan boys like you hurt Apple...rather than raving about unsupportable imaginings such as Apple Hardware that everyone knows is untrue (look at specs) you should be focusing on the strengths of Apple which are many...but none in hardware or price.

Like fist post said, Apple did a couple years of excellent hardware and software. I don't see extreme changes in that model but there are a couple things. Snow Leopard should prove to be an excellent 64 bit OS that will read and write to the open source 128 bit ZFS file system. I would love to see this be a ISO standard that everyone uses from Mac to Linux to Unix and the Vole but we all know how MS is, just look at the crap they did in the ODF ISO standard push.
How long can Apple keep pushing the sorely outdated Mini Mac for $799 with hardware maybe worth $150.
Then I won't even start on the non removable battery in their latest Macbook Pro. Drop some prices, do a couple updates and stop the user unfriendly battery crap and they will be back on track again. Oh, get rid of those shiny screens or least give me a choice for matt finish.

@mont ... Have you even USED a Mac in the past oh 3 years? If you would have, you wouldn't be spewing out such garbage without knowingly being lying.

@Nick Farrell ... Really man, you should give up on this story that you like Apple and even own & use *modern* Apple systems. It's a joke. Go harp about something that is actually news or just stop writing. Maybe we should all move to el Reg? It seems a LOT of us have gotten tired of the garbage coming from The Inq.

How is an analyst saying a company's sales is going to decrease this quarter or even next any sort of surprise? I wouldn't be surprised if MOST companies have lower sales this year than last. Honestly, it is expected in this climate. Get over it, twit.

I hope Jobs gets better as I would any other human but I think Apple will decline after enough users have bought them only to find the truth that they're underpowered and underperforming machines.

If the specs ever go up enough to justify their price then it will be another story but when a PC half the price performs twice as well I don't see many initiated users wanting to stay with Mac should they ever give Apple a try.

The iTit. That made me chuckle!

Analysts are predicting that Nick Farrell, reporter with on-line technology news site 'The Inquirer', will soon have reached the point where he has published all of the news stories that relate to the Apple Computer Company, which actually exist. some are speculating that this may happen as early as March or April, this year. Farrell has hitherto been seen as immune from the effects of a dearth of real news as a result of the so-called "More's law"; which states that there will always be more stories to publish about Apple Computers.

However, while it is true the number of Apple-related news stories have traditionally doubled, every six months for the last decade, analysts are now saying that Farrell's output is finally exceeding demand, in a market where readers want to read stories that hint at whether they'll still have jobs by the time they finish reading them. Many are now predicting Mr Farrell may soon have to diversify into articles about things he heard on Radio 4, or even made-up stories about Playmobil figurines.

Apple announced today that it has developed a breast
implant that can store and play music. The iTit will cost
from $499 to $699, depending on cup and speaker size. This
is considered a major social breakthrough, because women are
always complaining about men staring at their breasts... and
not listening to them

I think it's going to be even worse for Apple : they had a few good years but this was mainly because of the new excellent stuff they brought to market. Now it feels like they have nothing major in the pipeline anymore that could persuade new customers their way and Windows 7 will probably have arrived when the economic crisis turns around to help MS fight off more PC's turning MAC. Steve Jobs being sick isn't helping either... No, things look gloomy for Apple atm.

I think it's going to be even worse for Apple : they had a few good years but this was mainly because of the new excellent stuff they brought to market. Now it feels like they have nothing major in the pipeline anymore that could persuade new customers their way and Windows 7 will probably have arrived when the economic crisis turns around to help MS fight off more PC's turning MAC. Steve Jobs being sick isn't helping either... No things look gloomy for Apple atm.