Intel’s Ultrabook platform is meant for low-power and ultra-thin computing but without the performance setbacks. HP and Asus were reportedly releasing their own respective Ultrabooks by August and September, respectively, but some sources say that supply issues are forcing manufacturers to push back their targets to as far as first quarter of 2012.
At the very least, these supply issues — notably the LCD screen — might make Ultrabooks expensive to manufacture. The Ultrabook is originally slated as a Macbook Air competitor, and manufacturers originally promised sub-$1,000 prices. But Asus has reportedly claimed they might have to reduce the specs to accommodate that price. With an i5 chip and SSD storage, Ultrabooks can cost as much as $2,000.
Will there be hope for reasonably-priced thin and powerful Windows-based Ultrabooks? Apple has recently upped the MacBook Air’s specs to include Core i5 and even i7 chips at $1,000 to $1,500 prices. Can the Intel Ultrabook platform match this?
