“One year ago, skinny, sleek ultrabooks were being hailed as the great savior of the struggling PC business. The white knight hasn’t arrived yet,” Julianne Pepitone reports for CNNMoney. “Ultrabook sales so far have sorely disappointed, and one research firm is slashing its 2012 forecast by more than half.”
“IHS iSuppli laid out a stark view of the field in a report it cheekily titled ‘Dude, You’re Not Getting an Ultrabook,'” Pepitone reports. “The research firm now expects about 10.3 million ultrabooks to ship worldwide in 2012. Earlier this year, its prediction was 22 million.”
Pepitone reports, “There are two key reasons for lackluster sales of the super-thin and super-fast notebooks, according to IHS iSuppli: ‘nebulous marketing and unappealing price.'”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Here’s a third reason: “Crappy, limited operating system.”
Only Apple’s strong-selling MacBook Air – the computer that all UltraBooks are modeled upon – can run all of the world’s software natively or via fast, seamless virtualization.
The fourth reason, and most important reason is, of course: iPad.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Joe Architect” for the heads up.]
Related articles:
Apple’s iPad, MacBook Air kneecapping so-called ‘Ultrabooks’ – August 7, 2012
IDC analyst: Apple MacBook wins, Windows ultrabook fails – July 12, 2012
U.S. Windows PC shipments drop 7%, Apple Mac up 4.3% YOY – July 12, 2012
The PC market’s last, best hope: Apple MacBook Air wannabes – May 14, 2012
JP Morgan: Windows PC ‘ultrabooks’ just Apple MacBook Air wannabes – February 14, 2012
U.S. Windows PC shipments drop 6% in holiday quarter as Apple Macs surge 21% – January 11, 2012
