Acer, Asus slash ‘Ultrabook’ orders by 40%, struggle against MacBook Air
Intel’s thin-and-light “Ultrabook” design, inspired in part by the success of Apple’s MacBook Air form factor, continues to struggle in the market, prompting PC makers Acer and Asus to reduce orders by 40 percent.
The two companies originally planned to order as many as 300,000 Ultrabooks by the end of 2011, but slow sales forced the company to reduce those orders to between 150,000 and 180,000 units, according to DigiTimes. The report labeled first-month sales of Ultrabook Windows-based PCs as “unsatisfactory,” citing sources at original design manufacturers.
“Compared to Apple’s MacBook Air, Acer and Asustek’s Ultrabooks do not have advantages in either performance or industrial design,” the report said, “and their weak sales were expected, the sources noted, adding that notebook players are putting their focus on after May 2012 with expectations to see surging demand in October 2012, when Windows 8 launches.”
Yeah, that’s it. Everyone is waiting for Windows 8.