The retail sector is currently wedged in the quiet gap between spring hardware launches and the late-summer back-to-school shopping rush. To drive holiday revenue, Amazon, Best Buy, and Walmart are locked in an aggressive price war for Memorial Day weekend.
The heaviest discounts are hitting Apple’s newest hardware. You can grab the M5-powered iPad Pro 11-inch for $899 at Amazon, a $100 price drop. The M4 iPad Air 11-inch is also down to $519.99.
Android users have similar options. Best Buy cut the price of the flagship Samsung Galaxy Tab S11 Ultra by $350, bringing it down to $849.99.
Outside of tablets, high-end smart home peripherals are getting attention. The Roborock Qrevo CurvX robotic vacuum has a $600 discount on Amazon right now.
Retail analysts tracking the active pricing and specific model configurations for the discounted Apple and Samsung tablets note that M4 and M5 Apple devices face sudden inventory shortages. Retailers expect stock to run out before the holiday officially ends at midnight on Monday.
Why Apple’s M5 Price Drop Breaks Retail Norms
This weekend marks the very first holiday promotional window for Apple’s M4 and M5 generation of iPads. We are looking at the fastest retail markdown for the Pro line following a spring launch.
Typically, Apple hardware holds its retail MSRP for several months before third-party sellers offer anything beyond a token $20 discount. Amazon pushing a $100 cut on a brand-new M5 chip forces competitors like Best Buy to match the pricing, creating an unusual summer buyer’s market for premium tech.