Sector Snap: Stocks of cell phone makers down

Shares of Research in Motion Ltd., maker of the BlackBerry, were down $8.82, or 12 percent, to $61.94 in afternoon trading. The stock earlier hit a new 52-week low of $60.03, following a 27 percent decline on Friday.

Late Thursday, RIM said margins for the current quarter would be below expectations because of the introduction of new models.

Shares of Nokia Corp., the world's largest maker of handsets, were down $1.97, or 10 percent, at $17.71. The price of $17.57 hit earlier in the day was the lowest for the stock since 2005.

Apple Inc. shares were down $24.13, or 19 percent, at $104.11, but most of the decline was due to analysts downgrading the company based on weaker projected sales of Macintosh computers. The iPhone unit was still projected to do well.

Motorola Inc. shares were down 70 cents, or 9 percent, at $6.93. The day's low of $6.77 was just above the multi-decade low of $6.52 set Sept. 18. Like Nokia, Motorola is a major maker of network gear, and will be affected by curbs on carrier investment in addition to a consumer pullback.

Palm Inc. shares were down 84 cents, or 13 percent, at $5.82. The stock has done worse over the year, hitting $4.21 in March, but has been buoyed recently by sales of the Centro smart phone.