As noted in the previous two segments, Apple's success with the MacBook Air and iPad have changed the course of Intel and its Ultrabook PC makers and Samsung and its mobility products. Here's a look at how the rest of the industry has chased (or flirted with) Apple at this year's CES.
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 confirmed on Tuesday its acquisition of Anobit Technologies, an Israel-based flash memory component maker, though it declined to reveal the cost of the deal.
New Mac-centric products are aplenty at this week's Consumer Electronics Show, including a Thunderbolt-connected external graphics processor from MSI, and a vertical docking station for the MacBook Air from Henge Docks.
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.
This year, Apple's Mac OS X platform turned ten years old, launched the 10.7 Lion reference release, introduced the Mac App Store and iCloud, and delivered a series of new Macs boasting fast, flexible Thunderbolt connectivity and speedy new Sandy Bridge processors.
Intel is rumored to release a total of 25 new 22-nanometer Ivy Bridge processors on April 8, 2012, signaling a potential launch window for Apple's next generation of Macs.
Apple could build new notebooks that are even smaller and lighter than current battery-powered devices by switching to fuel cells for power.
Apple supplier and manufacturing partner Pegatron said 61 workers had been injured as a result of an explosion at a subsidiary's metal casing factory in Shanghai, China.
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.
Apple's investments in acquiring flash memory expertise and technology appear to be centered around packing more storage capacity into Macs and iOS devices at lower prices, with the same level of component reliability and longevity.
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.
Sales of Apple's ultraportable MacBook Air notebook continue to grow, and are expected to reach an average of 1.6 million units per quarter over the next 12 months.
Indications from Apple's supply chain suggest that iPhone and Mac sales are picking up strength ahead of Christmas, while the iPad remains on pace for a record setting quarter, albeit with softer sales than expected.
Intel's next-generation Ivy Bridge mobile processors, expected to appear in future MacBook Pro and MacBook Air updates from Apple, will hit the market in May of 2012, a leaked Intel product roadmap reveals.
A global shortage of traditional, spinning hard disk drives has coincidentally come at a time when Apple's flash-based solid-state MacBook Air is one of the company's most popular products.
J.P. Morgan bumped up its projections for shipments of Apple's iPhone in the December quarter to 28 million units, revising its revenue estimates for the company accordingly to $38.69 billion.
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.
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Daniel Eran Dilger
Josh Ong
AppleInsider Staff
Sam Oliver
Slash Lane
Neil Hughes
Katie Marsal
