Are Ultrabooks the saviour of the PC industry?

Are Ultrabooks the saviour of the PC industry? It would seem so. Ultrabooks market segment offers a new ray of light for the PC manufacturers interested in attracting  new consumers. Of late, there is an increasing amount of activity taking place in the ultrabook market segment. An ultrabook is considered to be an evolution of the laptop rather than an entirely new form factor. Product strategists in the PC industry are preparing for 2012 to be the year of the “ultra book”.  Ultra books’ lighter, thinner form will appeal to many consumers.  Amongst the new ultrabooks in the market are the HP Envy 4, Dell XPS 13, Lenovo Ultrabook, as they try to compete with a Macbook Air like device, which is regarding by many consumers as an ideal device given needs for mobility, faster start up times and longer battery lives. However the price point and greater adoption of the ultrabooks remains a key challenge and opportunity for the PC manufacturers as they seek to make a device that appeals particularly the increasingly mobile consumer segment. The PC market has till now been missing a cool, yet functional device that can satisfy the needs of a mobile professional. At a price of around $900, it seems that the Ultrabook may provide the answer. The number of models in this high growth segment is expected to pick up from the 17 odd models at present to 75 by the end of the year, driving down prices to under $700, which should make these machines relatively affordable if the penetration is to be increased. More than one-fifth (21%) of  US online consumers already claim to be interested in owning an ultrabook, which is encouraging news for product strategists in the PC industry.  Ultrabooks represent the fastest growth segment of the global PC market. The global ultrabook shipments are forecast to increase to 29 million units in 2012, up from less than 1 million in their first year of shipments in 2011, justifying the faith the PC makers are increasingly placing in this market segment. By 2015, shipments will further rise to 136 million and will represent 43% of global notebook PC shipments, up from 2% over 2011 and 13% in 2012. Ultrabooks market dynamic is expected to witness transition in 2 years and till that time tablet PCs would continue to hold sway in the market. Tablets have not really been helpful to the PC makers like HP, Dell and Acer, and hence the interest of the PC makers in the Ultrabooks segment. As the data indicates, Ultrabooks are not really a technology fad devoid of any essence –i.e they are not a market gimmick to woo consumers, which is the initial target market for ultrabooks. However, PC makers also are likely to target ultrabooks at the corporate users.  Ultrabooks could lead to a paradigm shift in the computing industry, leading to a convergence of major mobile devices. However, the major challenge facing the adoption and growth of the ultrabooks market is a high starting price in a price sensitive market. Intel, which is driving ultrabook adoption, predicts prices to decline to $699 by end 2012, but recessionary conditions may still deter consumers from buying in volume at that price. Price point is a challenge especially for the US and the European buyers.  Although PC shipments are growing in emerging markets, but buyers in China and India tend to buy low-margin products and could skip ultrabooks. The coming days will determine the state of the ultrabooks market and how well it is adopted by the consumers in reality, the signs are bright given their dramatic adoption within just two years of being launched as an evolved form of the ubiquitous laptop.