Poor demand drags MacBook prices down

Quy Thien, a video editor, said when the MacBook Pro 16-inch was released in Vietnam at the end of March, he ordered a high-end model with an M2 Max chip, 96 GB RAM, and 4 TB storage for VND149 million (US$6,400).

But Apple dealers told him the model was not available, but would arrive in two months. When his device arrived, he checked the prices and found it had fallen to VND133 million.

“In two months, I lost VND16 million when I hadn’t even received my device,” he said.

A retailer explained that the MacBook Pro is a niche product due to its high price. Dealers do not stock some high-end models, and users have to order and wait for six to 12 weeks. Thus, early buyers got a bad break since prices started to fall as they waited, he said. Even the standard version has become cheaper.

At the time of launch the 14-inch version with 16 GB RAM, 512 GB storage and an M2 Pro chip cost VND52.9 million, and the 16-inch version cost VND65.9 million. If they had M2 Max chips, the prices were VND81.9 million and VND92.9 million.

In the next two months retailers slashed the prices of the 14-inch model by VND5 million if it had an M2 Pro chip and VND8 million if it had an M2 Max chip.

However, it has not worked and sales have not picked up, and the MacBook Pro only accounts for 2-3% of total laptop sales.

Hoang Ha Mobile said the high prices are the biggest dampener of demand.

Other Apple laptops have also become cheaper.

The MacBook Air M1, which used to be the best-selling laptop in Vietnam, currently costs VND17.9 million, VND11 million down since its launch in January 2021.

The MacBook Air M2’s prices have fluctuated. At the end of April its price briefly went down from VND28 million to VND25.9 million before climbing back up at the beginning of May.