Even as Apple announced the launch of its online store in India next week, customers across the country have been finding it hard to get hold of MacBook Air and MacBook Pro models across India. Most high-street retailers around the country are low on inventory of the two devices with demand being unusually high at a time when supplies are already constrained.
“There are a lot of queries we get every single day, especially for the new iPads and the 2020 MacBooks,” a marketing executive who works at the top Apple Premium Reseller store said. “For both of these products, the stock has been the issue, for two months – but MacBooks stock has come in between. We did get around 200 units but all sold out due to high demand.”
With so many people now working from home, it’s natural to see an increase in demand in MacBook sales. The shortage of MacBooks is a clear indication that Apple’s supply chain has been unable to keep up with the demand. MacBooks, like Apple’s other products, are manufactured in China.
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A visit to Vijay Sales’s website reveals that both the 13-inch MacBook Air and the 13-inch MacBook Pro are currently out of stock. Several big retailers and Apple speciality stores such as Croma, Reliance Digital, iWorld, Futureworld, Unicorn, Amazon and Flipkart are running low on stocks for the MacBook lineup.
There are a few retailers like Amazon and Flipkart that might have a few units of 16-inch MacBook Pro, but the availability of stock depends on where you live. But then, the 16-inch MacBook Pro is very expensive, starting at Rs 2,00,000. For many people, however, the 16-inch MacBook Pro is out of reach.
But what would customers do when they don’t want to settle for any other laptop brand? “It totally depends on the customer’s choice. When it comes to a person who really wants to use that product only, the only thing we can do is to let them know that the product will be coming by a specific date or we can order the product based on specific requirements,” the executive said.
Other retailers, such as Reliance Digital, have also been unable to keep Apple’s MacBooks in stock. “We are expecting new stocks to come soon but there is no confirmation on when we will get the units,” a Reliance Digital store employee said.
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“We don’t have a single unit of MacBook available with us,” an iWorld store employee said. Asked if the unavailability of MacBooks was related to the pandemic, the employee said, “Yes, it’s because of Covid-19.”
Surprisingly, the old 13-inch Apple MacBook Air, the one introduced in 2017, is also showing “out of stock” on Amazon, Flipkart and Reliance Digital. Consumers who want the 2017 MacBook Air model can still find them in stock at one or two retailers, however. Croma, for instance, says new stock of the old MacBook Air will arrive by September 22.
“It’s not that MacBooks are ‘out of stock’ in the country. Some retailers are getting the stock,” an employee of a top retailer said. “You can place the order in advance and get the unit – but there is a long waiting period because the supply is short for MacBooks.”
Apple’s online story that goes live on September 23 is promising 72-hour delivery of all products across 13000 PIN codes in India.
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