Ultrabooks to drive notebook growth in 2012

Super-light and thin laptops like the “Ultrabooks” will likely serve as the next growth engine for notebook computers in 2012, a Taipei-based research firm said.

 

Witsview, the panel research division of market intelligence provider TrendForce, said notebook shipments may reach 213.5 million in 2012, up 9.4 percent from 195.1 million in 2011.

 

Taiwan’s Central News Agency reported Witsview claimed Ultrabooks will account for about 10 percent of all notebook shipments in 2012, compared to five percent of total shipments last year.

 

It said overall shipment growth will be driven mainly by Intel Corp.’s new Ultrabook platform “Ivy Bridge,” which is expected to be launched in the second quarter of 2012.

 

Another driver of overall shipment growth is the roll-out of Microsoft Corp.’s Windows 8 operating system in the second half of this year, Witsview said.

 

On the other hand, netbook shipments will dip 17 percent from 22.3 million units to 18.5 million units during the same period, Witsview predicted.

 

Regular notebooks will increase 13.3 percent year-on-year from 172.8 million units in 2011 to 195 million units this year, it added.

 

Witsview also noted that in addition to Ultrabooks, many PC brands also plan to launch laptops that are slimmed down to 22 to 25 millimeters thick, which will further speed up the adoption of such lightweight products in the notebook market.

 

In October 2011, Taiwanese PC maker Acer Inc. said it planned to ship 250,000 to 300,000 units of its Aspire S3 super-thin laptops in the fourth quarter.

 

Acer expected the Ultrabook line to account for 25 percent to 35 percent of its total notebook shipments in 2012.

 

For its part, Asustek Computer Inc. said in December that it expected shipments of its Ultrabook model, dubbed “Zenbook,” to hit the company’s fourth quarter target of 300,000 units.

 

Asustek hopes to build on the growing popularity of Ultrabooks to increase shipments of notebook computers by 22 percent in 2012, CNA said. — TJD, GMA News