“WE’VE CLEARLY HIT a speedbump,” Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs said in statement. Apple Computer, Inc. (AAPL)

price change $53.50 unch

Intel Corporation (INTC)

price change $44.44 unch

The company said it expects to report fourth quarter earnings per share diluted, excluding investment gains, between 30 and 33 cents per diluted share, rather than the 45 cents that had been expected by most industry analysts.

Apple said it expects to report revenues between $1.85 billion and $1.9 billion.

In light of the slowdown, the company said it would reevaluate forecasts going forward and would reduce growth targets for its next fiscal quarter and year.

Apple said it would provide those updated forecasts when it reported fourth quarter earnings on October 18. In a statement, Apple Chief Financial Officer Fred Anderson said the shortfall resulted from soft overall sales combined with weakness of Education product sales, which usually peak in December, and disappointing sales of its Cube.

Apple’s warning comes just one week after Intel Corp. (NASDAQ:INTC), the world’s largest chip maker, warned of lower than expected third quarter revenues sending jitters through the high-tech sector.

Although Apple shares had tumbled along with several PC maker stocks at that time, analysts said they were generally upbeat about the company’s outlook and the demand for a slew of new products it has introduced.