From Jaspreet Singh

May 31 (Reuters) - Dell on Sunday unveiled its cheapest laptop yet, the XPS 13, in a bid to boost its market share at the expense of Apple's MacBook Neo by targeting students and young professionals.

The company explained that the device will start at $699, with a reduced price of $599 for students aged 16 and older during the back-to-school season.

She added that the XPS 13 aims to provide a better user experience than its competitor from Apple.

This expansion into the personal computer market, through the introduction of a low-priced device, reflects Dell adopting a strategy similar to Apple's, in an attempt to reach a wider segment of users in a market that is highly sensitive to prices and faces a shortage of memory chip supplies.

Dell confirmed that the XPS 13 will be the thinnest and lightest device in its class, weighing about half a pound less than the MacBook Neo, in addition to having a larger screen.

Apple launched the MacBook Neo series in March with a starting price of $599, which helped boost its second-quarter financial results a month later. The device is also available for $500 to students, competing with Chromebooks and low-cost Windows PCs.

"I give credit to them (Apple) (for being the first to produce cheap devices)," said Jeff Clarke, Dell's chief operating officer. "It's a good product and confirms the market we've been talking about. Students and consumers deserve better options at affordable prices, and we agree."

Dell's new computer launch comes after it announced in January, during the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, its plans to compete in various price categories in the consumer PC market, and revealed at that time its intention to launch the XPS 13.

In the same month, the company relaunched its popular XPS series of computers, in a move aimed at reducing the expected slowdown in computer shipments during the second half of the year, as a result of rising memory chip costs.

Dell explained that the XPS 13 version equipped with Intel Core Series 3 processors will be available soon, while the model equipped with Intel Core Ultra Series 3 processors is expected to be released later in the summer.