WASHINGTON (Bloomberg) -- Apple Inc., Google Inc. and Research In Motion Ltd., among the best-performing technology stocks last year, tumbled in Nasdaq trading amid concern the economy may sink into recession.

Apple slumped $14.88, or 7.6 percent, to $180.05 at 4 p.m. New York time in Nasdaq Stock Market trading, the biggest drop since April 2005. Google fell 4.1 percent to $657 and Research In Motion declined 8.4 percent to $103.35.
Government reports on jobs and manufacturing added to investor concerns about a slowdown in the economy, and the U.S. stock market is off to the worst start since 2000. The slump may limit consumers' budgets for computers, software and equipment. Technology-related shares dropped the most, dragging the Nasdaq down 3.8 percent.
“The market is spooking itself,” said Gene Munster, an analyst with Piper Jaffray & Co. in Minneapolis. “It's natural for people to get nervous when everyone is getting nervous.”
The industry weathered the collapse in sub-prime mortgages better than most last year. The Nasdaq-100, composed almost entirely of computer-related stocks, rose 19 percent, compared with the 3.5 percent gain in the Standard & Poor's 500 Index.
Analysts including Shaw Wu at American Technology Research in San Francisco said consumer spending may slow this year, and researchers already had forecast a slump in the growth of corporate technology budgets.
------------------Technology spending
Technology spending growth in the U.S. will drop to 4.8 percent this year from 5.3 percent in 2007, according to Forrester Research Inc. in Cambridge, Massachusetts. That will mark the third straight year of slowing budget increases, the researcher said.
The Nasdaq's 5.6 percent decline so far this year is the worst start since the electronic market opened in 1971. The Standard & Poor's 500 Information Technology Index fell the most in five years.
The sell-off “appears to be panic selling,” Wu said in an e-mailed response to questions. “Consumer spending may become weaker, but we continue to believe Apple is positioned to do relatively better than most.”
Wu and Munster are among 25 analysts tracked by Bloomberg who recommend investors buy Cupertino, California-based Apple's shares, which more than doubled last year amid optimism for sales of its Macintosh computers and iPhone handsets.
“I don't see any reason why Apple's momentum and ability to buck the trend is going to change,” said Munster. He predicts Apple shares will climb to $250 this year on demand for Macs, iPhones and iPod media players.
-----------------------Intel falls
Intel Corp., the largest semiconductor maker, fell the most in two years after JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut its rating on the stock, the second downgrade in three days. Intel declined $2, or 8.1 percent, to $22.67, the most since January 2006.
“Intel experienced a late-quarter slowdown in order rates,” analysts including Christopher Danely wrote in a note. They also cited declining demand for PC components.
Micrel Inc., the maker of chips for communications equipment, dropped 20 percent after sales and profit missed forecasts because of declining orders from Asian phone companies. Micrel fell $1.54 to $6.28, the most since July.
Motorola Inc., the largest U.S. maker of mobile phones, dropped the most in nine months in New York trading after a Citigroup Inc. analyst said holiday sales suffered because of an absence of desirable phones.
Motorola fell 6.1 percent to $15.07 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading, the biggest drop since March 22. The shares have slid 27 percent in the past year.