High prices and ineffective marketing are the chief reasons customers ignore ultrabooks in favour of hotter mobile devices-- and IHS iSuppli slashes ultrabook shipment forecasts for the 2012-2013 period.
The analyst predicts 2012 ultrabook shipments will total 10.3 million (with Q4 2012 to account for around 50% of the amount), down from previous projections of 22m units for the year.
iSuppli also revises 2013 forecasts-- 44m, down from a far more optimistic figure of 61m.
"The PC industry has failed to create the kind of buzz and excitement among consumers required to propel ultrabooks into the mainstream," iSuppli remarks. "When combined with other factors, including prohibitively high pricing, ultrabook sales will not meet expectations in 2012.”
Intel's tough ultrabook definitions also cause a drop in forecast numbers-- a number of notebooks once known as ultrabooks are now actually classified as "ultrathins."
Do ultrabooks have a place in an increasingly tablet-based future? iSuppli remains (perhaps surprisingly) positive, predicting ultrabooks will "overcome" challenges to get shipments reaching 95m by 2016. Intel also continues pushing the form factor, revealing the 4th generation "Haswell" processor at IDF 2012 complete with Intel Identity Protection Technology, multiple display support and DisplayPort 1.2.
New features seen at IDF 2012 should also make next-generation ultrabooks more consumer-friendly-- touch-based input, voice recognition, multiple sensors (GPS, accelerometers, gyroscops) and hand-gesture recognition.
Go Dude, You're Not Getting an Ultrabook: 2012 Forecast is Slashed (IHS iSuppli)
