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Is this next year’s laptop?
 I
ntel is enthused about the concept and it has managed to convince most of the
PC OEMs to come out with a slew of products built to its vision. We are talking
about the ultrabook, a device that is slim and light but packs a punch in terms
of compute power and offers five hours or more of battery life. The goal is
for this category to account for close to half of laptop sales next year. For
that to be achieved there’s a lot that needs to be taken care of first.
lPrices have to come down. Until and unless ultrabooks are priced around Rs
40,000-50,000, laptop makers can forget about getting 40% of their laptop sales
from this category. Many of them are aware of this but with SSD prices staying
high it is going to be a challenge for them to reach that goal. A few of the
first crop of ultrabooks compromised on the SSD only nature of the beast to
bring prices down to the desired level but a hybrid drive doesn’t offer
the instant-on advantage of an SSD or comparable performance for that matter.
True blue ultrabooks currently cost Rs 70,000-90,000.
lPerformance has to be competitive. This isn’t Intel’s first shot
at thin and light mass-market laptops. The first avatar of this concept revolved
around ULV chips and while these devices delivered on battery life, their performance
was underwhelming.
lA lot will depend on Windows 8, particularly the tablet UI. Many laptop manufacturers
intend to offer ultrabooks with screens that detach into tablets and, if Windows
8 proves compelling in that form factor, that will be a tremendous shot in the
arm for this category.
lProjections are robust for a category that has failed to deliver so far. Only
a million of these laptops will sell this year but forecasters have predicted
100 million plus sales by 2015.
lSome expect the ultrabook to be the new netbook with compromising on performance
being acceptable provided the laptops retail for netbook like prices.
So far, not one of the ultrabooks released has managed to achieve the cachet
of the MacBook Air. They have all come up short on one parameter or another.
Having said that, these are just the first shots across the bow, so to speak,
and later models will fix the chinks in the armor of the ultrabook. To me, it’s
all a matter of price-performance. If the ultrabook can offer mainstream laptop
performance in a lighter, more attractive package for a similar price, then
it will succeed. If not, it will join the graveyard of inventions that failed
to catch the buyer’s eye.
Prashant L. Rao
Editor
prashant.rao@expressindia.com
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