Ultrabook Prices May Fall 5-10% In Q1/12 – PC Vendors

Digitimes’ Monica Chen and Adam Hwang report that PC laptop makers Acer, Asustek Computer and Toshiba are expected to lower retail prices for ultrabooks to below US$1,000 by year end 2011, and with a $100 marketing subsidy per machine coming from Intel, prices could drop an additional drop 5-10% in the first quarterof 2012, according to Digitimes’ unnamed sources in the Taiwan-based OEM supply chain.

The report also notes that Lenovo, Hewlett-Packard, Toshiba and Dell were launch ultrabooks starting “mid-November,” according to the insider moles (curious, since the story is dated today, the last of November, and Toshiba was also named earlier in the item).

Whatever, the point is that Intel is hoping to keep retail prices below $1,000, with high costs for processors and SSDs making that target difficult, with the BOM (bill-of-materials) cost of making a 13-inch, SSD-equipped unit estimated at about $690, OEM costs another $100, and marketing/distribution costs of$150, for a cumulative total of US$940 based on insider intelligence, with key components like the CPU, a 128GB SSD and display screen OEM cost being c.$175-200, c.$140-150 and and c.$45-50, respectively.

Apple, with supplies of SSDs, panels, (and perhaps even Intel CPUs?) contractually locked-in at favorable rates is well-positioned to hold the MacBook Air entry level (just) below $1,000, while the PC makers are presumably being obliged to scramble for whatever SSD volumes are available in the face of an ongoing hard disk drive shortage caused by flooding in Thailand disrupting production.

For the full report visit here:
http://www.digitimes.com/news/a20111129PD210.html