Asus Zenbook Hands On: Good Lord There's a Lot of Awesome Packed Into Something This Thin
It's kind of insane it took a $300 million slush fund from Intel to get notebook makers to create MacBook Air-like ultrabooks, the first results from Asus are, well, pretty damn impressive.
Context & Ripple Effects
Intel has spent 2011 trying to manufacture an answer to the MacBook Air rather than waiting for one: a confirmed $300 million fund pushing notebook makers toward Air-like designs, layered on top of an August 2011 reference spec that keeps ultrabook parts costs under $710 so Windows builders can price against Apple notebooks.
Asus is the first maker to show working hardware from that program, and this hands-on verdict — impressive feature density in a very thin body — suggests the subsidy-plus-reference-spec approach produced something reviewers take seriously rather than a checkbox product. It matters because it turns 'ultrabook' from an Intel marketing term into a shipping category.
First-order effects
- Asus gets first-mover position in the ultrabook segment, defining what the category looks like before any rival ships, while Intel gains immediate proof its $300 million fund bought a credible MacBook Air competitor.
- The hands-on reception gives Intel's sub-$710 parts spec a validation point: at least one major OEM could hit the bill-of-materials target without gutting the product.
Second-order effects
- Other Windows notebook makers now face pressure to field their own ultrabooks off Intel's ready-made reference design, converting thinness from a differentiator into table stakes across the Wintel lineup.
- Suppliers of thin chassis, solid-state storage, and low-power components see demand consolidate around Intel's spec, moving pricing leverage toward vendors who can meet the cost ceiling at volume.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds, the Wintel camp's notebook design agenda is effectively set by Apple's MacBook Air silhouette and financed by Intel subsidies — a structural habit of chasing Apple-defined categories rather than setting them.
- The same period shows Intel retreating from platform control on the software side — MeeGo declared dead after Nokia's defection to Windows Phone, with Tizen emerging as successor — leaving hardware subsidies as Intel's primary lever over the PC ecosystem.
The trend: PC makers are converging on Apple-defined thin-and-light designs, with Intel's subsidy programs and reference specs replacing in-house differentiation as the industry's pace-setter.