Consumers Buying Cheap Laptops, Not Ultrabooks

The Register’s Tony Smith reports that Ultrabooks are still too darn pricey for a large proportion of consumers, with their average selling price during Q4 2011 63 per cent higher than that of regular notebooks and more than three times the price of a netbook according to UK-based market watcher Context.

Citing Context data, Smith says that with traditional notebook pricing decreasing even further year over year, consumers who are opt for notebooks instead of tablets are doing so with price point in mind, rather than a focus on weight and battery life.

He notes that Intel is, perhaps a bit optimistically, projecting that 40 percent of consumer notebook sales in 2012 will be Ultrabooks, but a Context spokesperson is quoted contending that consumers are more likely to choose a tablet PC or cheap, traditional notebook, particularly if the current economic pressures persist, although AMD’s skinnybook platform, Ultrathin, may help push down prices later in the year.

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