Intel Ultrabooks must compete with MacBook Air on price, parts suppliers say

Apple is used to setting the standard in the laptop industry. Before Apple eschewed 4:3 screen for 16:9 ones, widescreen laptops were virtually unheard of. The 17" laptop market only exploded after Apple unveiled their first 17" PowerBook G4. And now that Apple's MacBook Airs have become a huge hit, all the naysayers that bemoaned you couldn't offer laptops with non-removable batteries and no optical drives are doing just that with Ultrabooks -- MacBook Air-inspired PCs.

Intel, who is pushing the Ultrabook platform, feels like sales of the slim notebooks could make up 40% of the laptop market by 2012 and PC manufacturers like ASUS and HP originally said that users could expect Ultrabooks for under $1000 in time for Christmas. However, now PC manufactures, who are used to selling laptops at much cheaper prices than app to rope in as many customers as possible, are finding that the technology and manufacturing necessary to create the MacBook Air-like Ultrabooks are costly, and they will not be able to undercut the MacBook Air's pricing. That could mean defeat for the PC Ultrabook initiative, according to Digitimes.