The high prices of second-generation ultrabooks which are set to appear in early June of around US$1,000 are unlikely to help them win-over consumers; therefore, notebook vendors plan to launch ultra-like notebook models with lower prices along with the new ultrabooks to help boost sales, according to sources from the upstream supply chain.
Acer is reportedly set to push 13- to 15-inch ultrabooks and Asustek plans to announce two ultrabook models featuring 11- and 13-inch IPS panels shortly.
Since the second-generation ultrabooks are still facing difficulties to lower costs, notebook brand vendors plan to promote the new ultrabooks as their high-end products and will push ultra-like notebook models as major product line.
Sources from notebook ODMs also pointed out that brand vendors' demand for ultrabooks has greatly increased, as the number of new projects has shown an obvious increase. As for ultra-like models, the sources noted that vendors plan to make some adjustments to their traditional notebook models adapting materials and exterior designs to achieve the goal of models with similar thicknesses to ultrabooks, but at more acceptable prices.
