14 DAY TRIAL // We've spoken, repeatedly, of what a disappointment ultrabooks have proven to be, and how they don't seem to be selling well regardless of what companies and consumers do, but this might finally change in 2013.
Intel hoped, expected even, that its Ivy Bridge central processing units, as well as the Microsoft Windows 8 operating system, would catapult ultrabook sales.
Chipzilla actually believed that the new product type would come to account for 40% of all shipments by the end of the year (2012).
Now, though, there is nothing left of those hopes. There was nothing left of them for some time actually. Analysts got the gist of things long ago.
Now, Intel is once again setting a few goals and entertaining some hopes, although at least this time it isn't quite as optimistic.
Rather than some sort of miracle, Intel expects to catch up on what it was supposed to accomplish this year.
In other words, according to Digitimes, Intel and everyone else involved in the ultrabook market expect the 40% share to be attained by third-generation models, based on the Haswell platform schedules for the second quarter of 2013.
A higher performance and lower price are definitely strong incentives for people to trust in this renewed hope.
The average price should also fall by then. $750 / 750 Euro ultrabooks are still rare nowadays, but 2013 should bring about that cost drop to $699 / 699 Euro.
At any rate, a jump from 10% to 40% is a high goal, so we will have to wait and see how much progress is made towards it. If nothing else, there will be a lot of time until the closing month of 2013 for promoters to do their best. Cheaper storage is a must though. Today's SSDs cost too much.