英特爾(Intel)總裁暨CEO 歐德寧(Paul Otellini)日前表示，該公司預期超輕薄筆電(Ultrabook)將在接下來幾個月達到”主流”價格點；他并在發(fā)布英特爾第一季財報的分析師電話會議中表示，目前市面上已經有21款Ultrabook出貨，預期在2012下半年還將會有超過100款的新Ultrabook問世。
歐德寧表示，為推廣Ultrabook，英特爾在本月初展開了近十年來規(guī)模最大的廣告銷售活動；該公司正積極拉抬這種專門采用英特爾處理器、超輕薄筆記本電腦的消費者接受度。英特爾并已經提出”Ultrabook”這個名詞的商標申請。而英特爾旗下的風險投資機構，在去年推出了一筆3億美元的基金，專門提供給開發(fā)支持Ultrabook概念技術的新創(chuàng)公司。
到目前為止，市場對Ultrabook的批評大多集中在其零售價，目前大約在1,000美元左右(有數款產品的價格甚至更高)；不過英特爾表示，該公司的目標是讓Ultrabook產品的平均價格降到1,000美元以下。歐德寧在該場分析師電話會議上盛贊眾家推廣Ultrabook技術并提供不同功能組合產 品的PC廠商，他預期會看到業(yè)者們推出更多零售價位在699至1,299美元之間、”差異化程度令人驚訝”的Ultrabook家族產品。
在被問到他認為什么因素將帶動Ultrabook降價時，歐德寧表示，主要應該是來自于眾多廠商推出具備不同功能組合的差異化產品，所導致的市場競爭：”這會帶來產品量，并激勵人們在這些先前是利基型的技術領域上保持競爭力?！彼e了華碩(Asustek)最近推出的Ultrabook，配備了一款超薄型的500GB硬盤，這就是英特爾以前不曾想過可能會有的。
歐德寧并表示，英特爾也專注于確保有足夠的觸控屏幕接口Ultrabook可支持即將問世的微軟(Microsoft) Windows 8操作系統；直到最近，配備觸控屏幕大約要為每臺系統添加約100美元的物料清單成本(BoM)，不過他指出，英特爾已經看到在未來的2~3個月，該成本將會有”非常大幅度”的下滑。
“所有以上因素的結合──也就是各家PC廠商、特別是臺灣業(yè)者鎖定的大量化商機──是推動Ultrabook售價與成本下降的主要動力?！睔W德寧在電話會議上重申，英特爾預期到2012年底，市場上的消費性筆記本電腦出貨中將有四成是Ultrabook：”我非常有信心我們可達到這個目標，所有的跡象都如此表明。”
市場研究機構Technology Business Research (TBR)分析師Beau Skonieczny 在一份近日發(fā)表的報告中指出，幾乎所有的主要PC供貨商都毫不猶豫地接受了Ultrabook這個新產品概念；但是對消費者來說，除非理解該產品能提供的優(yōu)勢，他們會抗拒多花錢購買Ultrabook。
“市場行銷將在導正消費者對Ultrabook概念的認知上，扮演重要的角色；”Skonieczny表示：”英特爾與其伙伴總計將投資超過10億美元行銷 Ultrabook，內容包括商業(yè)廣告、社群網絡宣傳、品牌活動以及零售點行銷等等。”他指出，TBR相信這些活動有助于讓英特爾與PC制造商，藉由銷售出比傳統筆電更多的Ultrabook，拉抬產品平均售價與利潤。
編譯：Judith Cheng
本文授權編譯自EE Times，版權所有，謝絕轉載
參考英文原文：Otellini: Ultrabooks to hit 'mainstream' price points，by Dylan McGrath
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Otellini: Ultrabooks to hit 'mainstream' price points
Dylan McGrath
SAN FRANCISCO—Paul Otellini, Intel Corp.'s president and CEO, said Tuesday (April 17) that Intel expects Ultrabooks—the Intel-backed lightweight, low-power notebook computers—would hit "mainstream" price points in the next few months.
In a conference call with analysts following Intel's first quarter financial report, Otellini said that more than 21 Ultrabook designs are currently shipping and that more than 100 more would be shipping during the second half of 2012.
Otellini said Intel launched earlier this month its largest advertising campaign in a decade to support Ultrabooks. Intel is pushing consumer adoption of the ultra-thin notebook-style computers, which use Intel processors exclusively. Intel has applied for a trademark on the term Ultrabook. Last year, Intel's venture capital arm launched a $300 million fund to bankroll startups working on technologies in line the Ultrabook concept.
The knock to date on Ultrabooks has been the retail price of the devices, which currently hovers around $1,000 (several models are priced significantly higher). Intel has said its goal is to see the price of Ultrabooks come down below $1,000.
On the analyst conference call Monday, Otellini praised OEMs for pushing Ultrabook technology and offering systems with different mixes of feature sets. He said he expected OEMs to bring to Ultrabooks "an incredible amount of differentiation" at retail price points from $699 to $1,299.
Asked what he expected to lead to declining Ultrabook prices, Otellini said mostly competition from many OEMs bringing to market different Ultrabooks with different mixes of features. "That is driving volume and it's driving people to be competitive on some of these previously niche sort of technologies," Otellini said.
As an example, Otellini cited an Ultrabook now being shipped by Asustek Computer Inc. which features a low profile, 500- gigabyte hard drive, something that Intel did not think would be possible.
Otellini also said Intel was focused on making sure that there were sufficient quantities of Ultrabooks with touchscreen interfaces to support the forthcoming launch of Microsoft's Windows 8, which will support touchscreens for the first time. Until recently, adding a touchscreen has added about $100 to the bill of materials of each system, Otellini said. But, he added, Intel has seen that cost come down "very dramatically" over the past two to three months.
"The combination of all of these things—of the OEMs and Taiwan Inc. aiming at these volume opportunities—is really what's driving prices and costs down," Otellini said.
Otellini also reiterated on the call that Intel expects that 40 percent of consumer notebooks sold will be Ultrabooks by the end of 2012. "I'm still very confident we can do that," Otellini said. "All the signs are tracking there."
In a report circulated late Tuesday, Beau Skonieczny, a computing analyst at Technology Business Research Inc. (TBR), noted that all major PC vendors were adopting the Ultrabook form factor without hesitation. But, Skonieczny said, consumers will be reluctant to pay a premium for Ultrabooks unless they are informed about their benefits.
"Marketing will play a crucial role in orienting consumers' perception of Ultrabooks," Skonieczny said. "Collectively, Intel and its partners are investing more than $1 billion in Ultrabook marketing, spanning premium commercials, social advertising elements, branding, and retail positioning."
Skonieczny said TBR believes these initiatives will help drive higher average selling prices and margins for Intel and PC manufacturers by promoting more Ultrabook sales over traditional notebooks.
Intel's first quarter results beat consensus analysts' expectations, even as sales declined compared to the first quarter of 2011 and profit declined on both a sequential and annual basis.
