“Despite Apple’s recent launch of an all-new MacBook Air, supply chain partners are conservative about order momentum for the new device and they do not expect to benefit significantly from Apple orders as the tech giant has retrieved materials procurement rights from them, according to industry sources,” Aaron Lee and Willis Ke report for DigiTimes.
“The updates have attracted great attention from consumers, but how strong the sales momentum for the new model will still need to be observed, as the price tags of NT$39,900 (US$1,277) and NT$45,900 for different specs are much higher than NT$31,900 for the previous-generation model,” Lee and Ke report. “Supply chain partners are taking a wait-and-see attitude toward whether the higher-than-expected pricing for new MacBook Air will affect its sales performance.”
Lee and Ke report, “Apple statistics indicate that sales of MacBook Air fell under 19 million units in 2017 from a high of over 20 million units in 2015. In the first half of 2018, sales reached 7.8 million units, and whether the annual shipments for 2018 can reach the 2017 level seems a hard nut for Apple to crack, industry sources said.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Yes, the prices are slightly higher, but so are benefits: Retina display, faster processors, lighter weight, etc.
SEE ALSO:
Apple’s new 13-inch MacBook Air has a processor like no other laptop – October 31, 2018
Apple reveals all-new MacBook Air with a gorgeous 13-inch Retina display – October 30, 2018
The new Macbook Air is what the 2015 Macbook should have been. Apple missed the back to school season this year but this will still sell well for Christmas and beyond, hopefully an upgraded processor will be added before long.
Apple doesn’t think any of its products will sell well for Christmas. I’m pretty sure that’s why Apple offered weak guidance. It’s nice you feel so optimistic when Apple doesn’t.
Everyone says Apple products are too expensive to be top sellers and they may be right. I don’t have a problem with what Apple is charging for their long-lasting products, but I believe most of the world’s consumers don’t want anything to do with Apple products and Apple is subtly hinting in the same direction.
The benefits for which we are paying more – retina display, faster processor and lighter weight are what every other ultrabook has. The new secure chip is unique – but everything else is catch-up.
The Air update is disappointing from a business/professional standpoint. The slogan in the ad of, “…the latest cpu, gpu….to organize your photos, do presentations…” is so lame. The previous Air from 2015 did all of those things well. It also had a separate charging port, 2 USB ports, and a Thunderbolt port. With only 2 ports in total on the new Air Apple again is increasing the standard user’s cost and overall install price for business and staff. It’s already $200 more for the same config we deploy to our staff but the “old” Air gives them much greater port flexibility when at a desk with a connected monitor and charger (2 available USB ports). So now i have to spend $200 more upfront for a marginal gain that none of the staff will even notice or care about, then either spend another $75-100 on USB-C dongles, or $2-300 on a TB3 Dock for each desk, or $70-100 more on a monitor that has USB-C and downstream USB connections. This is the frustrating reality of relying on Apple for business. When models change we can’t afford the $3-500+ upgrade cost and have to clamor to buy the old models until the rest of the peripheral market comes down or catches up. It’s why people make decisions to keep Windows in their fleet because if this happens in the middle of an upgrade cycle a potential $300 increase across hundreds of users is significant.