There has been a lot of talk about Ultrabooks, not the least among the PC manufacturers that are behind the expensive computers that are expected to sell for less than $999. The companies in question have requested a price cut of 50% on Intel’s lucrative 17W processors, but according to Digitimes it will only go as low as 20%.
Intel is marketing the Ultrabook hard, as it considers it to be the next big step in notebooks and at the same time partners question the price requirements. Intel wants Ultrabooks to be sold for sub-999, but when adding up material cost, work and marketing of a specific model it become very hard to keep the price at that level.
ASUS UX21 is only 17mm in profile, sandwiched between MacBook Air 11.6″ and 13.3″
Intel has taken precautions to make it easier for the companies, with its own reference designs. It is talking constantly with its partners and according to sources to Digitimes they have requested a price cut of 50% for Intel’s 17W processors.
Intel refuses to go along. The reason is that it is afraid the energy efficient models will be so cheap they will compete with the ordinary processors for notebooks. Intel also says it will keep the high price on future models if lowering prices on current models.
Acer Aspire 3951 is the second known Ultrabook
Intel does say it is willing to lower the price with 20% for the closest partners, including ASUS. Core i7-2677 would then cost $317, Core i7-2637 $289 and the most common model for Ultrabooks, Core i5-2557 $250. The chipset HM67 also has a price, $48 according to Intel’s website. Just processor and chipset becomes a much too big part of the cost, especially if we consider Intel’s own calculations for the material costs, but today partners are most likely happy for anything they can get.
The first Ultrabook is slated for September in the form of ASUS UX21, where Acer Aspire 3951 and an unknown HP computer may appear in October.
