Dell is building on its strong earnings by going head-to-head with Apple. On Monday, Dell shares rose 1.5% in premarket trading, following a 33% jump on Friday after a strong earnings report. The company just introduced the XPS 13 laptop, priced at $699, or $599 for students, matching Apple’s MacBook Neo. This move highlights Dell’s consumer strategy and the importance of its timing.
Dell says the XPS 13 is its most affordable laptop yet, competing directly with the MacBook Neo on price and offering more features. Apple released the MacBook Neo in March at $599, or $499 for students. Analysts saw this as a bold attempt to gain market share, especially as rising memory costs are making hardware more expensive.
By matching Apple’s pricing, Dell shows it is ready to compete on value for everyday consumers, even though its main growth still comes from AI servers. After the news, Apple shares fell 0.5% in premarket trading on Monday.
Dell’s recent success makes the XPS 13 launch stand out. The company increased its 2027 AI server revenue goal to $60 billion after reporting $16.1 billion in AI-optimized server revenue for the first quarter, up 757% from last year. Launching a strong consumer laptop now shows Dell is confident in managing several product lines at once.
