14 DAY TRIAL // The fight between Intel and notebook manufacturers over the price of Ultrabook laptops keeps on going as Intel has recently released the bill of materials for such devices claiming that hardware costs can run as low as $475.
This is the raw bill of materials and doesn't contain any assembly costs, technical support, marketing, or other such expenses.
According to the BOM, component costs are supposed to run between $475 and $650 for 21-mm Ultrabooks, while the thinner 18-mm models, which should resemble the MacBook Air, will range between $493 and $710.
To keep the prices of the first Ultrabooks in check, sources at Digitimes claim that Intel is planning to hold a meeting with its ODM partners to discuss about this concept and find a way to keep prices under $1000.
Notebook makers have recently complained that the manufacturing costs involved in building Ultrabooks are too great, and that such units will be hard, if not impossible, to reach the sub 1000$ price Intel wants them to retail for.
Intel's Ultrabook guidelines require manufacturers to use a unibody design for the chassis, as well as built-in high-density li-polymer batteries, to significantly reduce weight and size, while some of the components have to be soldered directly on the system mainboard.
What this means is that notebook makers will have to completely change their existing production process, which is based on a modular approach, resulting in added training and retooling costs.
Intel has developed the Ultrabooks concept in order to counteract the ever-increasing popularity of tablets, which are eating away into the PC market.
The first completed Ultrabook designs are expected to be showcased at the upcoming Fall Intel Developer Forum, which will take place in San Francisco this September.