14 DAY TRIAL // Intel's attempt to make ultrabooks cheaper by swapping metal alloy cases for plastic ones was a resounding failure this year, since it made ultrabooks less ultra than people were willing to accept.
It didn't help that the ultrathin laptops still stayed overly expensive. They are so even now.
Other methods will be used to cut the price this year (2013), so aluminum and other metals will take their rightful place again.
Coupled with all the other notebooks out here, the odds are high that notebook chassis makers will utilize their metal-alloy case production capacity more fully than before.
Ju Teng International Holdings, for example, a Taiwan-based notebook chassis maker, will be boosting the utilization rate of its metal-alloy cases from 70% to 100%.
There will still be plastic-clad notebooks of course, but they will be fewer than the rest.