Sales of personal computers continued to fall during the second quarter of this year, according to two separate analyst reports released last week.It’s further proof that consumers these days are more interested in other technologies like tablets and smartphones than they are in traditional desktops.And, according to research firm, IDC it’s not just PCs that are feeling the pain. Apple may finally be feeling the PC sales slump themselves.In the US, PC shipments totaled 15.9 million units during Q2 of 2012, a six percent decline from the same period last year, according to Gartner Research. IDC’s report put the figure closer to 11 percent, noting that the US market “fared worse than expected,” during the quarter.IDC also found that Apple sold fewer Macs in the US during the second quarter than it did in the same period of 2011. If the research firm’s forecast is accurate, the decline would be Apple’s first in three years.IDC estimates that Apple sold 1.81 million Macs in the US during the second quarter — down 1.1 percent fro m the 1.83 million machines sold in Q2 last year.Apple's first quarter of 2012 was particularly poor. Mac sales fell off the proverbial cliff after 2011's record-setting fourth quarter, dropping by 22.7 percent, the biggest quarter-over-quarter decline in the Mac's history.The last time Apple’s US sales were down year-over year was in early 2009, when the country was in the midst of its worst economic crisis since the 1930s.Other factors IDC and rival research firm Gartner cited for the contracting US PC business were weak sales to education, uncertainty by consumers about whether they should buy a tablet or a computer, and postponed purchases because of impending operating system upgrades.Although the news for Apple may be bleaker than usual, it wasn't nearly as bad as what other industry leaders heard from the research firms. IDC said that HP’s sales were off 12 percent and Dell's 9.2 percent for the quarter, while the overall US PC business contracted by 10.6 percent. Gartner estimated HP and Dell were down 12.7 percent and 9.5 percent respectively, and that US PC sales fell 5.5 percent.