In a very short amount of time, The NPD Group’s Retail Tracking Service reported that ultrabooks made up 11% of the Windows notebooks sold in the first five calendar months of 2012. Compared to the same period in 2011, ultrabooks priced over $900 increased 39% year over year.

At the same time, NPD reported that overall Windows notebook PC sales fell by 17%.

Neuralytix Perspective

This data is not surprising at all.

	Weight	Functionality	Price
Ultrabooks	Base line (~ 3 lbs)	Base line (Windows 7)	Base line (~ US$999)
Traditional laptops(Windows 7)	Heavier	Same	Varies (Many cheaper)
Macbook(OS X)	Heavier	Same	Varies (Many more expensive)
Netbooks(Windows 7, Intel Atom based)	Similar	Same (Performance lower)	Cheaper
Tablets (w/o keyboards)iOS or Android	Lighter	Lower	Cheaper
Tablets (w/ keyboards)iOS or Androide.g. Asus EeePad Transformer, or iPad with Bluetooth keyboard	Similar	Lower	Cheaper

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

While Ultrabooks do cost more than most of the alternate options, one thing is clear. Those who use tablets will ultimately need another full function laptop or desktop. The combination of the two results in challenges related to:

• Keeping both the tablet and the full function client in sync. This challenge extends even further to those who also carry a smartphone.
• End-users will be managing three client devices – tablet, laptop/desktop and smartphone.
• The cost of a tablet plus a full function laptop/desktop is very likely to be higher than an ultrabook (even if the laptop/desktop costs considerably less than the ultrabook).

Ultrabooks have the benefit of being a full function laptop replacement (with similar performance), with the light weight of a tablet (and a keyboard). Many ultrabooks also exhibit battery lives that are longer than most laptops, although not nearly the same battery life as a tablet. This has been made possible by the integration of non-mechanically based solid-state disk drives.

Neuralytix believes that over the course of the next 12 months, ultrabooks will be the preferred client device for many corporate users.

Source: NPD Group

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