“Apple barely has to worry about weaponizing its patent for the design of the MacBook Air, as its grip over the supply chain is already putting the hurt on potential ultrabook competitors,” Christina Bonnington reports for Wired.

“All current MacBook Air and MacBook Pro models employ a unibody aluminum chassis, an industrial design component that PC makers have started to emulate,” Bonnington reports. “The Air’s thin, light metal housing is particularly en vogue, and many PC manufacturers want the same type of chassis for their ultrabooks. But according to a recent report from DigiTimes, overseas suppliers can’t deliver these metal chassis quickly enough, which is bad news for Apple competitors.”

Bonnington reports, “‘Apple has really consumed a considerable portion of the currently available [manufacturing] capacity because they use the casings exclusively in their notebooks,’ IHS principal analyst Tom Dinges told Wired. ‘Not to mention, Apple’s notebook volumes have grown considerably faster than the overall market the past few years, which adds even more strain to the available capacity for these casings.’”

Read more in the full article here.

[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader "Fred Mertz" for the heads up.]

MacDailyNews Take: Aww, the slavish copiers’ toner cartridges have run dry.

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Windows PC assemblers struggle as Apple locks up metal chassis supply – June 26, 2012