Ultrabook makers fear design patent lawsuits from Apple - report
PC makers are said to be "facing threats from Apple" over Ultrabook designs that resemble the ultraportable MacBook Air.
PC makers are said to be "facing threats from Apple" over Ultrabook designs that resemble the ultraportable MacBook Air.
Supply of metal chassis for ultraportable PC notebooks remains constrained as Apple has reportedly locked up most of the capacity available from suppliers.
The latest batch of Windows-based Ultrabook PCs will not undercut Apple's ultraportable MacBook Air enough on price to win away most consumers, according to a new analysis.
When asked about similarities between the design of HP's new Ultrabook and Apple's MacBook Air, an HP executive dismissed concerns that Apple could sue.
A new report claims Intel has set internal estimates of between 20 to 30 million ultrabook units this year.
New 13- and 15-inch MacBook Pros with a thinner and lighter design are expected to launch in April "at the soonest," with an initial shipment of just under a million units.
A new analysis from investment bank J.P. Morgan says Windows-based ultrabooks are unlikely to achieve similar success as Apple's MacBook Air in their first generation and will not become "meaningful enough" to drive growth in the notebook PC market until at least 2013.
Apple has reportedly asked Pegatron, one of its overseas device assemblers, to "choose sides" and stop producing the MacBook Air-like Zenbook from Asus, or else lose Apple's business.
While most of its rivals are struggling to match innovations Apple pioneered with its first MacBook Airs over three years ago, the Mac maker this year is hoping to further distance itself from the competition with a pair of radically redesigned professional offerings that will set the tone for the next wave of notebook computing.
Without even making an official appearance at CES as an exhibitor, Apple has become an invisible hand directing the show and what the company's competitors choose to promote as their future strategies. Here's a look at how the industry is chasing Apple at this year's CES.
Consumer electronics maker Samsung has voiced its goal of becoming the No. 1 notebook maker, but it will run up against rival Apple and its hot-selling MacBook lineup on its way to the top.
Apple is said to have sold 1.2 million of its thin-and-light MacBook Air over the holiday buying season, as competing PC makers hope to steal some of Apple's thunder by unveiling their own "Ultrabooks" at this week's Consumer Electronics Show.
Acer chairman JT Wang expects Apple's gains in the PC industry to weaken over the next two years as a result of a future surge in sales of notebooks matching Intel's ultrabook design specifications.
Traditional PC makers are said to not be paying much attention to the tablet market controlled by Apple and now Amazon, and are instead pinning their hopes on thin-and-light Ultrabooks to improve gross margins.
Asus announced that it expects tablet shipments, which will reach 1.8 million units this year, to grow significantly next year, possibly even eclipsing the PC maker's shipments of netbooks in 2012.
Prices for laptops in Intel's "Ultrabook" category are expected to fall below $1,000 by the end of this year and may drop as much as 10 percent in the first quarter of 2012 with the help of a $100 marketing subsidy from Intel, according to a new report.
Despite being squeezed on both sides by Apple's iPad and MacBook Air products, Acer says it remains committed to netbooks, especially in emerging markets.
Apple is said to be preparing an update to its MacBook Air series in the first quarter of 2012 with the addition of a new 15-inch thin-and-light model.
Intel is reportedly planning to release a proprietary connector that will work alongside its Thunderbolt technology to allow for advanced docking stations for the chipmakers' ultrabook design specifications.
Apple's continued control unibody aluminum chassis supply has reportedly forced Ultrabook makers, hoping to compete with the MacBook Air, to turn to alternative materials such as plastic.
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