Price of Ultrabooks to Come Down in 2012
Ten Per Cent Price Reduction Expected
Everyone loves the idea of owning a super-fast but super-portable personal notebook computer. It’s why hardware manufacturers are currently trying to arouse interest in a new line of "ultrabooks," extremely lightweight but also quite powerful notebook PCs. Unfortunately, these devices also come with a big price tag, though a new report suggests that could change in the new year.
Perhaps the best example of an ultrabook is the MacBook Air. It's light, it's portable, it's extremely fast. For a time, Apple really was alone in this niche market, but in recent months a number of PC manufacturers have sought to change that situation. So far, we've seen a number of devices that boast Intel quad-core processors, solid-state drives (or SSDs), extremely light weight frames (three pounds or so), and a five-to-eight hour battery life.
Unfortunately, most of these devices also cost a lot -- about $1,000, or just a tad less than the MacBook Air. For many consumers, that's just too much money.
Luckily, it seems that will soon change. Tech blog Digitimes says its sources (with links to Taiwanese manufacturers) are predicting a five-to-ten per cent drop in the price of ultrabooks in early 2012, just in time for the release of some fifty new devices. That should mean the cost of an ultrabook dips from roughly $1,000 to about $900.
But why stop there? It's believed ultrabooks will continue to decline in price over the next few years. In fact, Acer, which recently released an ultrabook of its own, says it thinks these computers will be available for as little as $499 in 2013.
Is that possible? Perhaps, but it will mean drastically cutting the cost of components. Right now a manufacturer producing a 13-inch ultrabook must spend $690 in parts, $100 to build the machine, and $150 to market and distribute it. That makes for a total of $940, and if the PC costs $1,000 then profit margins are painfully slim.
Of course, component prices tend to go down a lot over time -- just look at Sony's PlayStation 3 video game console, which initially sold for about $700. Today, the PS3 can be found for $249, with a game or two included.
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