PC Makers Struggling After Wit Soundview Downgrade

Wit Soundview downgraded several PC makers this morning, citing weak October sales and the dangers of price competition amid sluggish demand.

The firm cut its ratings on Apple(AAPL Quote), Dell(DELL Quote) and Intel(INTC Quote) to buy from strong buy.

Shares of Apple were recently unchanged at $18.44, while Dell shares were tumbling 7%, or $1.75, to $23.19 in Nasdaq trading. Shares of Intel, which today introduced its new Pentium 4 chip, were off 1%, or 44 cents, to $41.13 on the Nasdaq.

Gateway(GTW Quote), whose shares were recently falling 10%, or $3.98, to $35.75, had its rating cut to hold from buy.

Other members of the sector were also generally lower this morning. Shares of Hewlett-Packard(HWP Quote) were recently down 0.7%, or 25 cents, to $35.38, on the Big Board, while shares of Sun Microsystems(SUNW Quote) were also in the red at $83.69, down $5.69, or 6.4% in Nasdaq trading. But shares of IBM (IBM Quote) recently gained 0.3%, or 31 cents, to $102.25 in New York Stock Exchange trading. Shares of Compaq(CPQ Quote) were down 77 cents, or 3.1%, to $24.23.