Credit crunch taking a bite of Apple?

Apple witnessed flat year-over-year overall sales in the US for its Macs in November, while sales of rival Microsoft Windows PCs were up seven per cent, according to research firm NPD Group, which tracks retail sales.

Sales of desktops were down 20 per cent overall, with Windows desktops sales falling 15 per cent and Macs down 38 per cent.

Apple's laptop sales, however, were up 22 per cent in November, while Windows sales rose 15 per cent.

NPD analyst Stephen Barker told Reuters: "For notebooks, there is a little extra value to consumers [to buy Apple]. For desktops I'm not so sure. To me the real story is the iMacs need a refresh."

IDC, which tracks sales of technology products, said earlier this month that it expects global PC sales to fall 5.3 per cent next year to $267bn.

Apple and Microsoft could not be immediately reached for comment.