Why ultrabooks were a flop in 2011?

Q: Key Point 5: Here's my suggestion to manufacturers -- give us an 11.6"...

Here's my suggestion to manufacturers -- give us an 11.6" ultrabook, running a Core i3 with 4GB RAM and 64GB of SSD for around Php30k and maybe we'll see more takers.

Abe Olandres January 16, 2012 · 2 min read

Listen to article

ASUS Chromebook CM14 announced ASUS ROG unveils Strix OLED XG34WCDMS, Strix XG129C monitors BPI partners with Robinsons Retail for barcode cash deposits in stores DJI Osmo Mobile 8P globally launched Qualcomm Snapdragon 6 Gen 5, Snapdragon 4 Gen 5 announced

From the informal discussions with a few dealers and distributors, MB Technews Editor @artsamaniego shares that the biggest flop in the PC industry for 2011 were ultrabooks. It must have been a classic case of overhyped and underperformed — and we wonder why.

I was surprised as well about this insider info considering the ultrabooks that we saw in 2011 were already impressive both in hardware and design. Still I wondered why they didn’t sell well in the Philippines (could have been a different scenario in other countries).

We offer several possible reasons:

1) Ultrabooks are expensive. Price could have single-handedly caused this. The median price for ultrabooks in 2011 was around Php50,000. The market for laptops in those price range is relatively small.

2) The Macbook Air Distortion Field. The Macbook Air has been around for 4 years. Ultrabooks have only been around for under a year. I guess people will always take the MBA into consideration every time they look at ultrabooks.

3) The ultra-hype. Before the era of ultrabooks, we saw a whole generation of ultra-portables. They also promised portability, processing power and long battery life.

Maybe in 2012, with all those dozens and dozens of new ultrabooks coming into the market (Intel promised no less than 75 models) we will see the price point become more rationalized and be more affordable.

Here’s my suggestion to manufacturers — give us an 11.6″ ultrabook, running a Core i3 with 4GB RAM and 64GB of SSD for around Php30k and maybe we’ll see more takers.

React to this article:

intel philippines intel ultrabook ultrabooks philippines

Abe Olandres

Editor-in-chief

Abe is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of YugaTech with over 20 years of experience in the technology industry. He is one of the pioneers of blogging in the country and considered by many as the Father of Tech Blogging in the Philippines. He is also a technology consultant, a tech columnist with several national publications, resource speaker and mentor/advisor to several start-up companies.

7,991 Articles

View all posts by Abe Olandres →

67 Comments

jorden · 3 years ago

thanks

Laptop Price in Pakistan · 4 years ago

Your article post is so informative about ultrabook are flop. The first Ultrabook arrived in the retail channel in October 2011. Since then, growth has so far been both impressive and linear. Best guide in this article about ultrabook. Thanks for sharing this article post.

Umair · 5 years ago

According to me they have very high prices but not good enough like other brands like apple mac book etc. You guys can visit us for laptop table

dating sites online · 12 years ago

I am curious to find out what blog platform you
have been using? I’m experiencing some small security issues with my latest site and I’d like to find something more safeguarded.
Do you have any suggestions?

Mobile Prices in Pak · 13 years ago

because they are not readily available in stores, at mismong mga sales rep e di alam ang ultrabook, i asked stores nung december e octagon lang sa megamall ang me tinda ng acer, sa iba e pag nag inquire ako nakatingin lang puro netbook ang pinapakita, its a good thing na maayos ang reviews dito kaya di nga kelangan magtanoing sa mga sales

Lani Garcia · 14 years ago

PRICE was the biggest factor.

Why would anyone want to buy a plastic looking S3 at 45K when the entry level MBA is also at the same price? If it was way lower, people would have considered.

This year, if Lenovo prices the U310 and U410 affordably, they might be able to penetrate the Philippine market.

As of the moment, people are still into netbooks and other AMD portables. The best sellers are still the Atom netbooks. At a 10K-12K price point, most filipinos would opt for those machines.

To be honest, filipinos don’t have the cash to spend on these high end gadgets. Look at the cybercafes jampacked with people who are either playing, doing Facebook, or even blogging in there.

fireice2 · 14 years ago

I’m happy with my ultrabook. I might be using a traditional HDD for the moment but when prices of SSD’s will go down, I would be considering an upgrade. :)

Salman · 14 years ago

Main reason behind this is that these ultra books are expensive..

tc27 · 14 years ago

i think it’s because of the rise of the tablets!

Nico · 14 years ago

Not really a flop since the ones that came out last year were basically ‘early adopter’ models, hence the steep price tag. Intel does predict that ultrabook prices will go as low as $400-500 due to stiff competition and cheaper raw materials. Acer says the S3 could go that cheap in a few months, according to Engadget(?)

Leslie · 14 years ago

It is a matter of price and availability. The current price of the ultrabooks are at least P45,000 for the Acer S3, while the rest are north of P50,000.

For the same spec, you can buy a branded notebook PC in the P30k-P40k price range. It might be thicker and heavier but most people will give up the thin and light features if the savings is big enough (which it is).

BTW, I was recently in Hong Kong and checked the price of the Acer S3 there. The i5 version was selling for an equivalent of P38,000. I wonder if Acer S3 would sell at that price in Manila, would be a better seller?

Tigrrr · 14 years ago

@hmmm

wala pong graphics card ang mga portables. :)

dude · 14 years ago

It’s all about price. Sony had ultra portables even before the mba. The problem then was the same as now. The price! The reason people buy MBA is because people with money will buy anything apple tells them to buy regardless of specs and price. Ultrabooks will also fail because windows 8 is coming with touch screen support making most windows machines now undesirable.

Jerome · 14 years ago

Aside from the price, they have irreplaceable battery. I’m O-C with extra batteries since I use an ultraportable regularly in school.

hmmm · 14 years ago

hmmm. Isang lang masasabi ko diyan. GRAPHICS CARD…imo. Sa tingin ko karamihan sa mga pinoy na gustong bumili ay hindi tech noob at gustong magkaroon ng all-in-one na ultraportable laptop. Kya lang mahina talaga graphics card nila. Kaya nag ipad na lang. wahahaha.

Iyan Sommerset · 14 years ago

I also think the form-factor hurts the genre in the country. Thin usually means “fragile” no matter if they are made of magnesium or aluminum or Kevlar or whatever. In a country where more people commute to school/work in buses, jeeps, FXes and trains, the seeming fragility might also be an issue.

roiji · 14 years ago

i definitely agree with your suggestion.

Noir · 14 years ago

Yuga Price most definitely is the main factor. along with the Mac Air.

Why dont you check AMD’s ultrathin’s line up which is supposed to be around $500

Ric · 14 years ago

The market wasn’t ready yet. You have to be really into tech to know what ultrabooks are. Plus the first ones that came out seem to miss a feature or two.

Dell and HP were smart enough to wait. The Folio and XPS 13 may succeed where the others have failed. Though I don’t know what Dell was thinking for not including a media card reader.

dj0502 · 14 years ago

aside from the price, it’s mainly because there’s not much option in 2011.

and if somebody would just use a proper version of windows 7, you can forget all the horrors from XP.

jonski22 · 14 years ago

everybody is looking for those 12″ to 13″ inch screen, core i3 or i5, 2gb or 4gb RAM, and SSD HDD , long battery life and ultra-light and ultra-fast…..but this thing are f****ing expensive!!!..SSD is expensive so i doubt they will lower the price…

Ryan Ang · 14 years ago

In my opinion, there has been a big question of who the target market really is for the ultrabook segment (here in the Philippines anyway), and is the market available to buy the machines.

Mass market adaption of the ultrabooks will be hard since most laptop buyers are more on the 30-40k range. 50k and above buyers rarely get middle to low spec’d machines and go for the high end stuff.

Siguro tingin din nila ultrabooks are nice and thin but brittle and fragile.

Ligrev · 14 years ago

Yuga, if I may add:

4) The netbook stigma/trauma. People were so disappointed with the netbooks and felt that ultrabooks might follow suit.

quick brown fox · 14 years ago

Even the highly acclaimed HP dm1 11.6″ with E450 is priced at around 22k as a budget buy, selling a classy ultrabook with an SSD at 30k is nigh impossible.

Abe Olandres Editor-in-chief · 14 years ago

Even the netbooks started out at Php23k. Last year, their starting price is Php13k. I think ultrabooks can get 50% cheaper.

hihey · 14 years ago

I’m not sure if Dm1z falls on netbook or portable notebook category but what im pretty confident is that it does it purpose for me :)

http://mobile.gjamoroso.com/2011/05/hp-pavilion-dm1-unboxing-pictures-why.html

r41n · 14 years ago

Intel’s target price is sub-$1000.
The motherboard itself is expensive because of light peak.
I wont expect the price to go less than 40K especially for new gen. Unless after 3 years, they are selling the same ultrabook. Last generation ultrabooks will always be cheaper. So all of them will eventually be priced at 50%, but of course it has last gen specs.

ogago · 14 years ago

I’d buy one if it’s just around 30k..

RedSimba · 14 years ago

Attracted with design but disappointed with price

ajcalderonmd · 14 years ago

perci · 14 years ago

Pinoys are waiting for the prices to go down,and most techblogs say they will in 2012.

Iyan Sommerset · 14 years ago

Not enough rich people.

simplynice93 · 14 years ago

I disagree. Rich people would rather buy Apple Macbook/iPad than getting clones from other brands. Ultrabook manufacturers should target the working class since they are most likely to buy their products.

daniel · 14 years ago

agree! mahal mahal masyado di naman superior kesa sa ibang laptop… weight lng talaga nagkatalo. pero Macbook? wala ako alam sa mga mac.. pati keyboard iba hahaha