Friday's tumble deepened a slide that left some of the best-known tech names nursing even bigger losses than the rest of the market, with Apple, Microsoft and Intel each falling nearly 9 per cent during the week.

The setback has also exposed a widening gulf between the euphoric valuations for private tech companies and the more sombre public stock market, increasing the chances of a reversal for a group of high-flying private companies that have come to embody the sector's hopes for future growth, according to some tech investors.

Although public tech companies were not trading at high valuations by historic standards, the sector has been caught up in a wider market collapse that was "a carte blanche bloodbath for everyone", said Kevin Walkush, a portfolio manager at Jensen Investment Management.