Reuters, SAN FRANCISCO
Apple Inc raised iPad and MacBook prices yesterday, saying it could no longer shield customers from soaring memory and storage chip costs driven by the artificial intelligence (AI) industry’s data center buildout.The move does not affect Apple’s main cash cow, the iPhone. But it would take starting price of the MacBook Neo — its lowest priced laptop aimed at winning marketshare from affordable Windows and Chromebook laptops — from US$599 to US$699 months after launch in March.With its increased price, Neo has now lost a US$100 advantage over the US$699 XPS 13 laptop that Dell Technologies Inc unveiled last month especially to take on the Neo, while also making it more expensive than some Chromebooks from Lenovo Group Ltd (聯想) and Asustek Computer Inc (華碩).
Attendees watch a presentation during Apple Inc’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference in Cupertino, California, on June 8.
The increase shows even the world’s most valuable consumer electronics company with supply chain relationships that are the envy of the industry is not immune to a memory price surge that has dulled the outlook for smartphone and PC sales.Memory makers such as Micron Technology Inc have in recent months prioritized orders from AI chipmakers like Nvidia Corp, helping them earn record profit but leaving little supply for electronics makers that have been forced to increase prices.
