$599 ultrabooks by the holiday season is too little, too late
Summary: The PC industry is essentially stagnant, and tinkering with existing form factors – which is what the Ultrabook essentially is – won't help that much.
In an attempt to improve adoption rates, Intel is looking to push down the starting price of Ultrabook systems to $599 by the holiday season. While this will undoubtedly be nice for those looking for a bargain, it is unlikely to be enough to reinvigorate interest in the platform.
Speaking at last week's Intel Solutions Summit (ISS) 2013 in Los Angeles, Kirk Skaugen, senior vice president and general manager of Intel's PC Client Group, announced the price cut to an audience of top OEMs.
Skaugen also said that the early Ultrabooks were "just a retrofit of what was already in the market," and that new Haswell-based models would bring a whole raft of new features to the table, including touchscreens, faster drives, and all-day batteries.
But the problem is that this is too little, too late. Despite Windows 8 getting off to a good start, with Microsoft selling 60 million licenses by the beginning of January, it seems that most of these were sold to hardware OEMs and are sitting on shelves waiting for customers to buy new PCs. And in the meantime, people are discovering Android and iOS tablets, and that they don't need a full operating system to do the things they want to get done.
See also: A $99 Kindle Fire would annihilate the Android tablet competition
Another factor placing a headwind on Ultrabooks is the aggressive product upgrade cycle from the likes of Apple and Samsung. These companies are building on the success of previous generations of hardware by releasing better models on a regular basis. Also, as more people get locked into the iOS or Android ecosystem, they're less likely to want to take a chance with a different platform, even if that platform is Windows, one that is familiar to most computer users.
The holiday season is a long way away, and by then there will be a new iPad and iPhone, along with a slew of Android-powered devices, all tempting the money out of consumer's pockets.
The PC market is stagnating, and tinkering with existing form factors — which is what the Ultrabook essentially is — won't help that much. The era of the PC is waning, and replacing it is the post-PC era, one dominated by low-power, low-cost, easy-to-use devices.
The tide is turning and Ultrabooks isn't going to stop it from happening.
Kick off your day with ZDNet's daily email newsletter. It's the freshest tech news and opinion, served hot. Get it.
Talkback
If only Microsoft would listen
Nah.
Totally agree, but...
Microsoft is THE desktop OS company.
Haha do you ever quit?
The PC is dead
/s
Website hosting
By the way, if you so desire, you can host an website on an iPad. It has way more powerful CPU and fast storage than many of the servers years ago, runs certified UNIX OS and the Apache web server is available for it, together will all UNIX tools.
You will just have to keep it powered on all the time, so that others could access your web site.
danbi is right on this one
Of course, such workarounds are not required on better post-pc devices like the Surface and many excellent Android Tablets but when you buy a lousy device like the ipad, you take whatever onerous work arounds and band aids you are forced to take if, unlike me, you can't afford to dump your ipad and get something better.
Re: you can host an website on an iPad
You call this "getting off to a good start"?
Yes, it IS a GOOD start!
Yeah, but then there's the rest of us!
the rest of us!
$599 ultrabooks by the holiday season is too little, too late
Any proof to back up this claim? From what I'm seeing its more Microsoft Windows 8 devices out there.
"And in the meantime, people are discovering Android and iOS tablets, and that they don't need a full operating system to do the things they want to get done."
Wrong again. Its very rare for me to see a tablet anywhere now. The tablet fad has come and gone. People do what the full OS to do what they need to.
Ask for a raise L-D
"it is very rare for me to see a tablet anywhere now." where you been? hiding in a cave? I see more and more tablets popping up everywhere, even at work.
I can only speak to what I am told.. but I service over 1000 people just at the facility I am at.. a lot more at the other factilities I service remotely. So far no one has ever said they liked the Windows 8 on the PC.. on a phone maybe.. a good number have even opted to retro the box to Windows 7. Might just be a So Cal, Texas, Ill., Calgary, Tijuana thing. Who can say, but maybe that is why the licenses bought by the OEMS are still sitting on the shelves, why so many of us are putting off buying new computers to see if, like Vista and Millenium, MS comes to their senses and realizes that a tablet OS is fine on a tablet, but most users don't want to turn their desktop PC into nothing more than another tablet.
Re: Any proof to back up this claim?
Tablets and smartphones
Tablets are far from fading away, and I doubt that will happen anytime soon - obviously the market will settle down. I wouldn't be surprise if tablets sales become close to pc sales in the following years.
One small disagreement
It seems that hardware/features for tablets are hitting the plateau and entering into the commodity competition. Smartphones are heading the same way as well.
Honestly what is the next iPad/Android tablet going to offer hardware wise that will cause people to ditch their last generation tablet that is working just fine? A few more pixels, ghz, GB of storage?
The same thing that happened to PCs is going to happen to tablets and phones. $599 ultrabooks are not going to save PC sales, but I don't think people are going to keep blowing $599 every year to replaces last years tablet.
$599 ultrabooks is a good start, but intel needs to help get intel powered tablets into better price ranges and battery life. That will provide a solid combination to take marketshare.
Wrong
A. Plenty of people currently have working equipment from a prior OS (including older iOS or Android devices, not to mention PCs running Windows 7).
B. People shop around the Holidays.
C. Windows "Blue" will be long since established by 4Q, resolving many of the whiny media's complaints about an already impressive rework of Windows.
D. The Holidays will give Microsoft will a spectacular opportunity to think of ways to bundle new Xbox 720s, Windows Phones, and Ultrabooks/slates/tablets/convertibles running Windows "Blue."
Hold your horses, folks
Tarnation ye younguns... what's the rush?
Relax and enjoy life a little.
Look beyond those self-imposed narrow parameters of screen staring!!!!
Oh yeah.
Latest and Outdatest