MARKET CLOSE: Apple leads tech slide

Technology stocks closed out the week on a sour note Friday as the Nasdaq composite tumbled 106 points to 3,672.70. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 172 points to 10,651.29.

In economic news, Americans' incomes grew modestly in August but they spent heavily, pushing the rate of saving to its lowest level on record.

The Commerce Department also said consumer spending rose 0.6 percent in August, keeping pace with July's increase. Personal income -- including wages, salaries, benefit payments and other sources of income -- gained 0.4 percent.

Apple Computer (AAPL) took the worst beating, falling $27.75 to $25.75 after the PC maker warned that it will miss analysts' sales and earnings targets in the fourth quarter.

Among other widely held PC stocks, Dell (DELL) fell $2.69 to $30.75; Compaq (CPQ) lost 85 cents to $27.40 and Gateway (GTW) shed $7.25 to $46.75.

"It's just a confirmation that we're not through pre-announcement season just yet, and as more negative news hits the tape, it's casting a pall over trading in general," said Bryan Piskorowski at Prudential Securities.

Net Perceptions (Nasdaq: NETP) fell $7.78 to $4.72 after itwarned it will miss estimates this quarter.

Maxtor (Nasdaq: MXTR) moved up $1.63 to $10.50 after Business Week's "Inside Wall Street" column reported that a major computer data-storage company plans to bid $2.3 billion, or $20 per share, for the company.

Intel (INTC) shed $2.94 to $41.50. Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) shaved off 25 cents to $23.38 and IBM (IBM) closed off $3.25 to $112.

Shares of memory and storage products maker Simple Technology Inc. (Nasdaq: STEC) fell $1.31 to $9.69 in its public debut after pricing at $11 per share, in the middle of their $10 to $12 a share estimated price range.

Yahoo! (YHOO) dropped $4.69 to $91. Amazon.com (AMZN) lost $1.56 to $38.44 while eBay (EBAY) and Lycos (LCOS) closed off 50 cents and $1.48 a share, respectively. America Online (AOL) inched up 20 cents to $53.79.