A few of these will be what Apple (AAPL) refers to as “significant stores,” outlets that are striking in both appearance and location. With its 45-foot tall stone walls, vast glass ceiling and beacon that some say is “brighter than anything on Broadway,” the Upper West Side store certainly qualifies as that–as does Apple’s newly opened store at the Louvre in Paris.

Given their architecture and locales, these “significant stores” come with some equally significant expenses. But evidently, they’re worth it. According to Ron Johnson, Apple’s senior vice president of retail, annual revenue per store is now around $26 million. Altogether, Apple’s stores posted revenue of $1.87 billion in the September quarter, nine percent more than last year and their highest level ever.

[Image Credit: Matt Buchanan/Gizmodo, Flickr]

Clearly, the global slowdown in tech spending is taking its toll on the company, though CEO Mark Hurd insists otherwise. Said Hurd, “HP is a market leader executing well in a tough market.”

Analysts begged to differ. “PC revenue declined 19 percent, server storage declined 18 percent, year over year,” Pacific Crest Securities analyst Brent Bracelin told Reuters. “Their printer hardware business declined more than 30 percent, year over year. The pace of the erosion in hardware was more severe than we expected….They did a good job of managing expenses in the quarter, but as you think about the fundamentals here going forward, they lowered their guidance from a revenue and profitability standpoint, and certainly we don’t have a ton of confidence, given the pace of erosion in their business. There could be further erosion from here.”

Fairchild (FCS) reduced its guidance as well. It had been expecting $338 million to $360 million in sales for its fiscal fourth quarter. Now it expects just $320 million.

Fairchild is the latest semiconductor company to temper its estimates as demand for the computers and telecommunications gear in which its chips are used contracts. Earlier this week, Texas Instruments (TXN), National Semi (NSM) and Broadcom (BRCM) all cut their projections because of lousy market conditions.

Not Seagate (STX).

Not Logitech (LOGI).

Not Cisco (CSCO).

Not Philips.

Not Yahoo. Obviously.

And not Sanyo, either.

All six companies have abandoned plans to exhibit on the Consumer Electronics Show floor. Like Belkin, they are all opting for the more intimate and inexpensive floorspace of a Vegas hotel room. Said Seagate spokesperson Woody Monroy, “We haven’t pulled out of CES…we’re just taking a different approach.” Cisco offered this statement on the matter:

On our Q1 FY ‘09 earnings call on November 5 we announced that we will be reducing expenses for FY09 by over $1B from our annualized expense run rate, given the challenging macroeconomic environment. We are targeting reductions in travel and discretionary-related expenses, including offsite meetings, outside services, equipment, events, trade shows, prototypes, marketing and other activities. Given this focus on reducing costs, we are modifying our participation in the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January 2009.

We have several speakers presenting in the various CES sessions, and Cisco chairman and CEO John Chambers will be delivering a keynote at the conference, as well. We are focusing our CES presence on our direct customers, press and analysts in order to create a more intimate event and reduce expenses. We look forward to an exciting CES 2009 with multiple product announcements that will reinforce Cisco’s consumer strategy. We remain committed to the consumer market, and we believe our cost control focus at this time is appropriate. In support of our CES presence, we will be utilizing Cisco’s world-class Web 2.0 collaboration technologies, such as TelePresence and WebEx, to maintain essential customer and partner communication. Cisco will have compelling demonstration areas and meeting rooms in the Venetian hotel in Las Vegas as we have for the past several years.”