Ultrabooks seen to make up 20% of notebook sales in 2013

Ultrabooks, the thin-and-light laptops promoted by chipmaker Intel Corp., may gain traction in 2013 and account for up to a fifth of notebook sales by then, Bank of America Merrill Lynch said.

 

Taiwan's Central News Agency cited a report by Bank of America Merrill Lynch indicating the Ultrabooks may remain niche product in the near term.

 

It cited the Merrill Lynch report as saying global sales of Ultrabooks may reach 15 million units in 2012 and 50 million units in 2013 - seven percent and 20 percent of total notebook sales in those years, respectively.

 

"In the near term, price premium and lack of differentiation will halt the end-demand, but we expect more innovative Ultrabook form factors in the second half of 2012, like touch screens, gesture control, voice recognition and NFC (near field communication)," CNA quoted Merrill Lynch as saying.

 

Asian makers such as Acer Inc., Asustek Computer Inc., Samsung Electronics Co., Lenovo Group Ltd, Toshiba Corp. and LG Electronics Inc. launched their first Ultrabooks in the fourth quarter of 2011.

 

Acer introduced its second Ultrabook model, the S5, at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas in January, and Asustek is targeting the launch of a model selling for around US$600 by the end of 2012.

 

US-based Hewlett-Packard Co. and Dell Inc. introduced their first Ultrabook models last January.

 

Lower pricing

 

The CNA report quoted Merrill Lynch as saying Ultrabook pricing may have to be lowered to about US$750 to gain broader acceptance.

 

It said and vendors may move closer to the target in 2012 by finding cost savings in the unit's CPU, storage and casing.

 

Merrill Lynch added Taiwan's Acer and Asustek have been much more aggressive than global peers in promoting Ultrabooks.

 

Also, it said some component makers may profit even more from Ultrabooks or slim form-factor notebooks than PC original design manufacturers (ODMs).

 

"We expect subsectors like backlight, battery and hinge to be the biggest beneficiaries of the Ultrabook theme, while CPU socket, connectors, and thermal module makers might get hit on the back of the low-voltage requirement," Merrill Lynch said.

 

It added casing vendors may also face shrinking margins because PC vendors are still searching for lower-price solutions and materials to save costs.

 

LCD, battery suppliers

 

The Merrill Lynch maintained a positive view of LCD backlight module supplier Radiant Opto-Electronics Corp. and notebook battery pack maker Simplo Technology Co.

 

But it kept a conservative view on the prospects of Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. and Foxconn Technology Co. — TJD, GMA News