What could go wrong?
Memory prices are impacting costs across the supply chain right now, and Apple will need to find some way to keep the Neo within the pricing window potential customers have become used to: every dollar higher in cost will dent momentum a little more. Analysts will want to be reassured that the 12GB of included memory doesn’t squeeze Apple’s product margins too much; contrarywise, customers want to continue their love affair with the affordable everyMac.
A Digitimes report tells us Apple has booked manufacturing for 16 million MacBook Neo 2 units, twice as many as it shifted for the MacBook Neo 1. I take that claim with a pinch of salt, but it still makes me think Apple’s management does not want to dent this momentum — which hints that next year’s Mac story may see even higher market share, albeit at the risk of some cannibalization of iPad sales.
The MacBook Neo worked because it delivered Macs at a price that education, enterprise, and first-time Mac users could easily accept. If the Neo 2 can protect and improve on that offer, then Apple has a shot at even higher market share for the Mac.
This story originally appeared on Computerworld
