Key insights
- Analysis suggests Apple's MacBook Neo targets a niche market, unlikely to sway Windows or Chromebook users. Limited RAM and gaming capabilities deter gamers. Projected sales are modest (4-6 million units), positioning it as a 'market warmer' for future iterations. A potential Neo 2 release later this year could be more impactful if priced competitively.
Yahoo Finance Technology Reporter Dan Howley and Sooth CEO and Founder Ian Baer join Asking for a Trend to discuss Apple's new MacBook Neo (AAPL), who is the ideal target demographic for the fresh piece of tech, and whether consumers will care enough to buy.
the same 85/15 rule that applies in PC ownership where only about 15% of people have Macs, somewhere between 14 and 15.
That applies to our intent signals as well.
So we see going in, 85% of the people who want to buy a new PC this year are Apple resisters.
They built an entry-level product that is much more souped up iPad
than it is scaled down MacBook. So it's like not quite Apple enough for Apple die hard.
Definitely not PC enough to get someone to give up a Windows machine or even a Chromebook, especially when you can get a great Chromebook for a couple hundred bucks.
Once people start seeing this out there, they'll be more apt
to use it. I think that, you know, when you compare this to something like the quality is crazy compared to something like what you would get from Windows, right?
And look, hey, hands up. Got got a bunch of Apple stuff, built my PC at home, right?
I I play games on my PC. Uh, I like to float, you know, between the worlds.
Yeah. Games by the way, a huge factor because when gamers got
news that this was only going to have 8 gigs on board and it can't be upgraded, gamers said, I'm out.
And when you look at the sheer number of people whose motivation for buying a new computer is simply keeping up with gaming tech, well, they're right out of the game.
But I really think this is more of a market warmer for them. They're going to sell probably 4, six million units, get them in a bunch of homes,
but it really sets them up very well for the next Neo.
Because what chances are if you follow their typical pattern, they'll introduce a Neo 2 or something along those lines, probably by this fall.
And if they introduce that at a price point of like $7.99, even $8.49, at the same time the tariff crunch starts to hit all of their competitors and it's going to become almost impossible to buy a Windows PC for under 800 bucks.
Now they'll have something with better tech performance that meets more people's needs.
The Neo will have an established base of users, the name will have cachet.
So if I'm Apple, I'm playing the long game and I just want to use this to seed the market for what I really have planned with the next wave.