Apple's Mac business has slowed and is expected to shrink this quarter, reports Business Insider.

Last year, Apple's March quarter Mac shipments grew 51% year-over-year. Financial analysts expects Apple's Mac unit shipments to drop 4% year-over-year this quarter to 2.2 million units.

Several factors combine to stop the phenomenal growth it had last year: a huge drop in the PC market led by the US financial crash; an unattractive desktop Mac lineup; and the success of cheap, low-end netbooks.

Apple's iPod business is also slowing down, causing Wall Street to estimate Apple's revenue at 6% year-over-year this quarter, a massive drop from a year ago, when revenues grew 43% year-over-year.

Compared to other big players (i.e. Google, Amazon), Apple is still trading at a lower multiple (17 times its last 12 months' earnings) than some of its big tech peers, such as Google (26x) or Amazon (42x).

Last year Apple's stock fell 3% in one day after a fake report surfaced about Steve Jobs' ailing health.