Intel Corp.'s Ultrabooks generated lots of publicity at the recent Consumer Electronics Show (CES), but the marketing of Ultrabooks and similar laptop computers will generate a lot of confusion.
According to Intel, Ultrabook is the brand name for a new category of laptops that are thinner, faster, and lighter than many that have gone before. Intel requires Ultrabooks with a screen of 11 to 13 inches to be no thicker than 18mm (0.7 inches). Those with a screen of 14 to 17 inches should be no thicker than 21mm (0.8 inches). Also, Ultrabooks have SSDs (solid state drives), which typically are faster than traditional hard disk drives in functions such as awakening from standby mode and opening applications.
In addition, Ultrabooks should weigh 3.1 pounds or less and feature a battery life of five to eight hours. Entry-level versions should have a retail price no higher than $1,000. Finally, but most importantly for Intel, Ultrabooks must include its low-voltage microprocessors (e.g., Sandy Bridge and Ivy Bridge).
Intel is spending hundreds of millions of dollars in branding and to convince manufacturers to produce Ultrabooks. Intel Capital, the company's investment arm, has established a $300 million Ultrabook Fund to spur hardware and software development. It also has created a $100 million AppUp Fund to promote software for Ultrabooks, as well as netbooks and traditional laptops.
Though Intel calls Ultrabooks a new device category, its efforts are actually a direct reaction to Apple's MacBook Air, which includes an SSD, boots fast, and weighs 2.96 pounds with a 13.3-inch screen, or 2.38 pounds with an 11.6-inch screen. Introduced in January 2008, the MacBook Air has become one of the world's most lusted-after laptops.
Intel wants Ultrabooks not only to equal MacBook Airs, but also to offer more features and lower prices. Some are pretty good, though most have a hard time competing against MacBook Airs. As Ultrabooks continue to enter the market, consumers will just have to compare the devices and make their choice, right?
Not so fast. Manufacturers might play fast and loose with Ultrabook terminology. If a device is just a little heavier or more expensive than Intel prefers, well, what's the harm in that? Plenty, if consumers expect Ultrabooks to be lighter and cheaper than MacBook Airs.
Another problem: AMD will offer low-voltage Trinity chips for "ultrathins," though it isn't mandating hardware specifications for laptop manufacturers. AMD-based laptops might retail for $200 less than Ultrabooks but could feature SSDs with, uh, ultrathin designs.
And as the gadget pitchmen say, "Wait, there's more!"
During the CES, Vizio, a company known for its LCD TVs, debuted at least one laptop that meets Intel's Ultrabook specifications and features aluminum unibody construction similar to the MacBook Air's. Vizio isn't saying what microprocessor is used, but it's assumed to be an Intel chip. Vizio is calling these laptops "thin-and-lights," and it says no stickers, such as "Intel Inside," will be pasted on them.
So we'll have MacBook Airs, Ultrabooks, ultrathins, thin-and-lights, and who knows what else. Also, many manufacturers use the "thin-and-light" term for their lightweight but "regular" laptops. And some manufacturers will sell both Ultrabooks and ultrathins.
By the end of this year, there could be more than 100 laptops in the ultra-thin-light category. As a techie, I'm thrilled with these evolutionary devices, and I hope at least some are superior to the MacBook Air. But marketers face numerous challenges. They'll have to explain why their products are better (for some people, at least) without getting bogged down in technicalities such as SSDs.
Marketers will have to differentiate individual models within this new category and differentiate them from traditional laptops. In the future, as ultra-whatever products become increasingly popular, they might become the "traditional" laptops. To the horror of non-Apple manufacturers, many consumers could get so confused with all the marketing nuances that they might say, "I'll just buy an Air."
Ellis, I applaud your laptop preferences with one significant difference: I want *one* machine to use as a laptop and a desktop, and so therefore I don't think $500-$600 will buy me enough horsepower to use as a primary machine.
But as for the rest of it, yeah, I don't need a DVD player or a lot of other frills. I don't even need a particularly large screen -- I plug into a 27" huge external monitor when I'm at my desk. But I do need light weight, long battery life, and full desktop power, which is why I lust for a MacBook Air. I hear the SSDs give it screaming performance too; much of the delay on conventional systems comes from the disk drive.
As for your waiting for the world to catch up with you on Linux: You'll be waiting a while. Bring a snack and something to read.
It's one thing to endorse an industry standard, but using the moniker set by another vendor? Bad idea, in my opinion. How's the average shopper going to decide between all the competing "Ultrabooks"?
Wouldn't it be better to avoid this crowded train and invest in a marketing program that establishes your company's Ultrabook without using the term?
Meanwhile, in the laptop space there's a lot of brand equity at work, I think. I know people who won't touch Dell products. I know people who only buy Asus or Lenovo. Will these customers change teams because XYZ offers an "Ultrabook"? I don't see it.
After a professional lifetime luggin' laptops around the country, weight and battery life are the only two features that matter to me. And weight matters more than battery. I don't need a DVD player, I don't need 8Gb of RAM. I don't need to spend more than $500-$600. (Finally, I'll take a machine preloaded with Windows, which I'll put keep isolated in a small partition on the HD, until the rest of the world catches up my desktop preference, Linux.)
The type of laptops I discussed -- MacBook Airs and their clones -- certainly aren't for everyone, although the newest Airs are just fine for many people, even as a "desktop" machine when combined with a large monitor, external keyboard, external DVD drive, etc.
But as I wrote, marketers will have to promote why these products are better "for some people...." Power users who need a lot of onboard storage, the fastest processors, dedicated graphics chips, large screens, lots of RAM, etc. won't be able to use them as their main computers.
As I also wrote, I'm certainly glad laptops are evolving. My next laptop might be an Air or an Ultrabook-type laptop with, I hope, a better keyboard and more features (i.e., an Ethernet port!) than the Air.
Techies and IT managers will be able to determine which laptops are best for their purposes. Indeed, it's fun for me to evaluate technology (and my job!). But many consumers will have a devil of a time trying to sort out all the marketing/advertising claims.
As I have recently been looking into ultrabooks and similar styled laptops such as the Sony Vaio Z, I find that the target audience for this line of laptops is pretty exact. For me personally, being a web developer and designer, I need a laptop that has the power the run my applications (graphics and audio) easily, provides me substantial graphics capabilities all while remaining mobile for the on-the-go lifestyle more and more people are adapting. I don't even mind the blatant Mac copying seen in Dell's XPS Z line. However, from the marketing standpoint, I can see the field becoming cluttered and in turn confusing. Despite the confusing marketing that may lie ahead for these laptops, I think the target audience will still benefit from this direction.
Manufacturers are indeed going to have to make users -- consumers and enterprises -- want Ultrabook-type products. Lots of people lust after MacBook Airs, but can't afford them or consider them underpowered for very intensive tasks.
Social media certainly will help, but advertising/marketing will have to demonstrate why these laptops are better. I don't think it will be too difficult compared to some other marketing challenges (like convincing people to buy BlackBerry 7! I'm writing a CMO blog about this.).
My next laptop probably will be either an Air or an Ultrabook. I'm not an Apple person, and I don't like the poor key travel in the Air, but it's a beautifully designed machine. I would prefer to see Ultrabooks with better keyboards (Apple keyboards range from rotten to mediocre), more features (no Ethernet port -- really, Apple?!) and competitive prices.
Manufacturers already offer checklists and recommendations, but it's not the focus of their marketing. The focus is on the device.
Focus on what the customer wants ... or create a want vs. saying here's what we have, take it or leave it. Really think that's where the influence of social media is key.
Ryck - Mitch, that may be true, but consumers now deal with that with so many other technologies, flat panel TVs are a good example.--LCD vs. plasma vs. LED vs. the soon-to-be popular OLED, different sizes, refresh rates, screen resolution etc. Maybe we're selling them short.
... and maybe TV is an industry that's ripe for disruption, as Apple did with smartphones.
And indeed there's a constantly recurring rumor that Apple will be coming out with its own TV this year.
(A rumor of pretty sick of seeing. Bloggers are just rechewing the same thoroughly chewed food. Eventually you start seeing blogs comparing the nonexistent Apple TV to the equally vaporous next generation Google TV.)
Ryck - Mitch, that may be true, but consumers now deal with that with so many other technologies, flat panel TVs are a good example.--LCD vs. plasma vs. LED vs. the soon-to-be popular OLED, different sizes, refresh rates, screen resolution etc. Maybe we're selling them short.
... and maybe TV is an industry that's ripe for disruption, as Apple did with smartphones.
And indeed there's a constantly recurring rumor that Apple will be coming out with its own TV this year.
(A rumor of pretty sick of seeing. Bloggers are just rechewing the same thoroughly chewed food. Eventually you start seeing blogs comparing the nonexistent Apple TV to the equally vaporous next generation Google TV.)
Alan, that's why a merger may make more sense. Apple clearly demonstrates that a firm can bridge the technological gap between handsets and computers. Someone else may want to head in this direction, as we see the variety of computing/phone technologies more on a continuum rather than in discrete categories.
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