"Lobster Fever" unexpectedly boosts sales of Apple Mac computers: official website and e-commerce sold out, platform highest premium 23%

Recently, the “Lobster Fever” triggered by OpenClaw has taken the world by storm, with localized deployment driving a surge in host sales.

Among them, the Apple Mac mini M4 has become difficult to find due to its excellent performance and the price advantage of not increasing prices during the rise in memory costs, sparking a buying frenzy among consumers.

Beijing News Shell Finance reporters note that the delivery time from official Apple channels has already extended to over two weeks, with some configurations even scheduled for late March; domestic major e-commerce platforms are also out of stock.

Official website delivery is from March 24 to March 31. Screenshot of Apple official website.

Since mid-February, sales of the Mac Mini M4 have exploded globally, with Apple direct stores and authorized dealers running out of stock, and second-hand market prices rising accordingly. Previously, second-hand Mac Mini M4 units sold for around 2,800 yuan, but now the transaction prices have generally risen to about 4,000 yuan.

On the evening of March 9, Beijing News Shell Finance reporters saw on DeWu that multiple models of the Mac Mini M4 were sold out on the DeWu app. Over the past week, the price of the Mac Mini M4 increased by up to 649 yuan, a 13% premium. The latest transaction price for the Mac Mini M4 16GB+512GB version rose from 4,950 to 5,599 yuan, an increase of 649 yuan and a 13% premium; the 16GB+256GB version rose from 3,751 to 4,058 yuan, an increase of 307 yuan and an 8% premium; the higher-spec Mac Mini M4 Pro 24GB+1TB version is now priced at 9,999 yuan, up 1,900 yuan in the past month, with a 23% premium.

Mac Mini M4 is selling at a premium on the platform. Screenshot of DeWu app.

It is reported that the Mac Mini M4 is a mini desktop computer released by Apple in October 2024. Equipped with the higher-performance, lower-power-consuming M4 chip, and since Apple did not raise the price of the Mac Mini M4, it has become a popular host for OpenClaw’s local deployment, leading to a buying rush among consumers.

Data shows that driven by the popularity of OpenClaw, a large number of users are rushing to buy Mac minis for local AI agent deployment, resulting in a recent 300% surge in sales.

E-commerce platforms show it is temporarily out of stock. Screenshot of JD.com official website.

OpenClaw is an open-source personal AI assistant project developed by Austrian serial entrepreneur and PSPDFKit founder Peter Steinberger. Its icon resembles a red lobster, affectionately called “Lobster” by users. Unlike traditional conversational large models like ChatGPT and Claude, OpenClaw’s core focus is on being an “AI agent capable of executing real tasks.” It can be directly deployed on users’ own computers (supporting macOS, Windows, Linux), connecting to communication tools like Feishu and DingTalk, receiving natural language commands, and proactively operating the OS, controlling browsers, reading and writing files, handling emails, managing schedules, and even automatically writing and debugging code.

Additionally, macOS has higher compatibility with OpenClaw compared to Windows, further boosting the popularity and premium of the Mac Mini M4.

However, early adopters should think carefully amid the “Lobster Fever.” The National Vulnerability Database (NVDB) and other agencies have issued multiple security warnings, pointing out that OpenClaw has significant risks under default configurations, with many instances exposed to the internet and vulnerabilities that can be exploited. Users should be cautious about granting permissions and updating versions.

(Source: Beijing News)