Ultrabook Sales Falling Ultrashort Discussion

[Vision33r]

I'm an IT Pro and manages over 700 laptops here at financial firm. We don't buy ultrabooks period. We have Lenovo X220, T420s, and Macbook Pro 13s and some execs gets Macbook Air 13 by request and that's the only ultrabook class.

We looked at Ultrabooks and don't think it's a fit for our business users, they lack in power, durability is a question, and lack of expandability such as docking stations are important for us. Which is why the X220 is the only one that fits our requirement but they ain't cheap for the average consumer.

That's the main thing with ultrabooks is they aren't meant for everyone, so a 40% marketshare is way too optimistic imo. 10% is actually quite good, personally I wouldn't mind having one but I need one with decent discrete graphics power and that won't happen until after Ivy bridge.

Another thing worth noting is that we have a growing class of users that uses tablets instead of notebooks and they swear by them. Most of these business users just need a simple email/web/light typing device and tablets fit the bill. I can see Win8 tablets get 10% of marketshare easily by middle of next year outpacing ultrabooks sales growth.

[pepper_john]

I also cannot think of buying a ultrabook for myself unless it comes with a full voltage cpu. Sony Z seems to be a good one but it's keyboard is lousy and the build quality is questionable. Hopefully T430u will come with full voltage cpu but I won't bet on that.

[PubFiction]

If it comes with a full voltage CPU then it isn't an ultrabook.

[Mitlov]

Another thing worth noting is that we have a growing class of users that uses tablets instead of notebooks and they swear by them. Most of these business users just need a simple email/web/light typing device and tablets fit the bill. I can see Win8 tablets get 10% of marketshare easily by middle of next year outpacing ultrabooks sales growth.

I think Windows 8 and Windows RT tablets with detachable keyboards (either of the Microsoft Surface variety or of the Asus Transformer variety) are going to gut the sales of more traditional ultrabooks. People who want more power will get a more powerful laptop. For people who want extreme portability, a convertible tablet seems like such a better investment than an ultrabook.

[John Ratsey]

It's wrong to believe that ultrabooks won't sell when a company with a fruity name has shifted millions in this format. I would consider pricing, more than performance, to be a major disincentive to many potential purchasers and, while the price premium relative to normal notebooks may shrink, it is unlikely to disappear. The lower voltage CPUs are a match for mainstream CPUs of a couple of years ago and, for most users, those CPUs are more than fast enough. Personally, I'm more than willing to give up a little performance in return for notebook that takes up so little space in the baggage and I can productively work at all day.

John