Goodbye netbook, hello ultrabook

In the second quarter this year, IDC reported worldwide PC sales growth of only 2.6 percent, far behind the 12 percent surge of the year before. IDC analyst Rajani Singh said in a statement that tablets were replacing the mini-notebook (netbook), resulting in sales of the portable PCs dropping.

While many PC manufacturers have produced tablets (over 100 were launched at the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show), the iPad remains the market leader in this category and is expected to sell 76 per cent of all tablets this year, Gartner says.

To compete and differentiate, PC manufacturers have introduced the ultrabook (a name coined by Intel). While the definition of an ultrabook is still a work in progress, Intel applies the name to very thin (under 0.8 inches), very light, high-performance notebooks that, like tablets, are capable of "instant-on".

In a press conference, Intel executives predicted that ultrabooks would comprise 40 per cent of the consumer notebook market at the end of 2012. Their price point, generally over US$1000, have started edging lower with Acer's US$999 offering, which will in turn help popularity.

Credit goes to Apple's MacBook Air (the one Steve Jobs pulled out of a brown envelope, remember?), the ultra-slim, instant-on notebook from Apple. When it was launched, critics named it "pretty but useless", which, to be fair, it may have been at the time. But since then, the latest MacBook Airs have been powerful devices that outstrip most netbooks and are capable of competing with traditional laptops.

The challenge for PC manufacturers is to retain the full functionality and flexibility of the PC notebook while competing with the tablet's portability and ease-of-use. Wired Magazine reports Intel's CEO Paul Osselini is hoping for touch-screen functions as well as a price point of US$600 to US$700 next year.

Display Search analyst Richard Shim told Wired that he wasn't quite as optimistic that PC manufacturers could combine a touch screen with that price point as early as next year. Nevertheless, "more and more devices utilising touch" is where the industry's headed. 

PC manufacturers in any case have jumped hopefully on board with the ultrabook. Shawn DuBravac, chief economist and director of research for the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), told PC Pro that the association expected to see "30 to 50 new ultrabooks" at the show.

Equally telling, rumours have hit the marketplace that Samsung has decided to discontinue its line of netbooks in favour of the ultrabook. The Inquirer reported that an email sent to its trading partners had been published on a French blogsite saying:  "Following the introduction of our new strategy in 2012, we stop the product range in 10.1 [inch] (Netbook) in Q1 2012 for the benefit of ultraportable products (11.6 and 12 inches) and ultrabooks, to be launched in 2012." 

Campaign contacted Samsung on the truth of this rumour, but as yet have received no official reply.