Ultrabook Sales Fall Short of Target

The first Ultrabooks went on sale just a few weeks ago, but Intel's new concept seems to have already hit a major bump in their road of becoming mainstream as both Acer and Asus are having troubles reaching their initial sales targets.

The two notebook makers wanted to ship between 200,000 and 300,000 Ultrabook units by the end of this year, but the latest estimates project just 100,000 units being sold until the end of 2011.

According to DigiTimes, channel sources seem to believe that the slow adoption rate of Ultrabooks is caused by the high prices of these devices, as MSRPs for most models surpass the $1000 US mark (about 714 Euros).

This makes some Utrabooks more expensive than equivalent MacBook Air ultra-thins, a price strategy that fells short of the initial consumer expectations.

The unclear market demand has also stopped Acer and Asus from ramping up orders for their Ultrabooks, revealed the same sources.

Acer's Aspire S3 and Asus Zenbook-series Ultrabooks, were both launched this fall and are available for purchase with prices starting at $899 (651 Euros) and $999 (714 Euros), respectively.

Both of these notebooks are built around ultra-low voltage Intel Sandy Bridge processors, which are paired together with SSDs or hybrid drives.

Intel expects Ultrabooks to account for 10% of the total notebook market in March/April of 2012, when the first Ivy Bridge processors will arrive.

The launch of these processors is expected to decrease the starting price for Ultrabooks and to help the ultra-thins reach a 20-30% share of the notebook market in the fourth quarter of 2012.

Intel defined the Ultrabook as a laptop that combines high performance, excellent responsiveness and security in a slim and elegant chassis, all for sub $1000 US (although manufacturer had troubles in reaching this last target).