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Apple PC competitors request price drop from Intel

by Kelly Hodgkins Sep 20th 2011 at 4:00PM

Intel is facing increasing pressure from its retail partners to lower the price of its upcoming line of Ultrabook notebooks, according to a report from Digitimes.

Manufacturers like Acer are now asking Intel to reduce the cost of the CPU to help lower the final price of the device. Recently, Intel's hardware partners asked the chip maker to reduce the cost of the Ultrabook by 50%. Intel refused.

These Ultrabooks are designed to compete with the MacBook Air which is available starting at US$1000. Manufacturers realize they need to get below that $1000 mark if they want to compete with Apple's popular notebook.



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Intel is facing increasing pressure from its retail partners to lower the price of its upcoming line of Ultrabook notebooks, according...
 

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Adrian Werner

Wow, so many uninformed comments. Intel is the one pushing for 999$ price tags. So no wonder companies want cheaper parts from it. Sorry Intel you can't eat the cookie and still have the cookie.

September 21 2011 at 6:29 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
FreeRange

LOL - then they can reduce the price of the chips to Apple too since apple is using intel chips! These companies are such clowns. They still think that the way to compete is on price. This is why they are all such losers working under such thin margins. They are commodities, not innovators, not added-value creators. They are grossly mismanaged clones.

September 20 2011 at 10:00 PM Report abuse +1 rate up rate down Reply
Uncle Bernie

I can't believe that using trainloads of black plastic can't lower their price.

September 20 2011 at 5:35 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Nick C-V

This isn't even Mac news. This is thinly veiled PC bashing.

September 20 2011 at 4:34 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to Nick C-V's comment
macserv

PC-maker bashing, maybe, and there's nothing thinly veiled about it. Nor should there be— these companies are being absolutely ridiculous.

Straight from the article: "Chen pointed out that if Ultrabooks suffer from weak sales, while Apple continues to enjoy strong profit, the Wintel alliance will need to do something or else all the related IT player [sic] may be gone together."

That's just despicable, and deserves every bit of ridicule it gets.

September 20 2011 at 11:56 PM Report abuse +1 rate up rate down Reply
Ben

You know the difference between apple and these PC makers.

Apple asks Intel to drop their CPU power consumption.
PC makers asks Intel to drop the CPU price.

September 20 2011 at 4:30 PM Report abuse +3 rate up rate down Reply
2 replies to Ben's comment
Danny

EXACTLY that's the point. Apple (and esp. Tim Cook) has been very clever in thinking strategically ahead, securing lots of components in advance and for a lower price. But when it comes to the CPU they either make it themselves (iOS) or want it smaller or with less poer consumption. The CPU still is a crucial part of the end product and determines a lot of the overall user experience. There are other parts where you want to save on buying prices. :)

With Tim Cook at helm I don't fear much about Apples future. This man is a genius in his own way.

September 20 2011 at 5:11 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Michael

It's because most people (manufacturers and consumers) really can't afford the $1000+ market. And for manufacturers the problem of the low end PC business is that it's low margin. Businesses will just have to accept that. They don't have to complete with Apple directly. And it's not that customers won't buy a $1000 ultra book, it's that companies don't want to make them to the quality they need to. (And they could! Dell had more success with the Adamo when it was out than the MBA did at the beginning, and it was in a much higher price category.)

These companies just need to make something of quality, but they're too afraid to.

September 20 2011 at 10:21 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Peter Emery

OK, just suppose that Intel grants this request. In the interest of fair competition, then Apple should also be permitted to pay less for the component, thus defeating the purpose.

September 20 2011 at 4:18 PM Report abuse +4 rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to Peter Emery's comment
Gray Ring

Yes, but Apple would keep their price close to what it currently is to differentiate themselves from "cheap imitators"
And then they would pocket the difference

September 20 2011 at 5:45 PM Report abuse +2 rate up rate down Reply
01nb

Waaahhh we can't compete because we sell inferior products. Waaah make it easier for us.

The reason you can't sell your Ultrabooks at 1000+ is they aren't worth 1000+ in the eyes of the consumer.

Cut a deal like Apple has. Band together and do it. Or go out and MFG your own damn chips. Or get AMD cranking on these chips at a lower rate.

So either accept lower margins, or figure it out. Stop publicly whining to Intel about.

September 20 2011 at 4:18 PM Report abuse +3 rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to 01nb's comment
Mark

Waa our customers don't have money to buy our notebook (which they don't need anyway because they are poor). People who can afford the notebook will still buy it. Maybe you should set your sights higher than joe six pack as the customer.

September 20 2011 at 8:55 PM Report abuse +1 rate up rate down Reply
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