Feature: Ultrabook: Intel's $300 million plan to beat Apple at its own game
My desktop isn't the only computer I plan to replace in the next few months. I need a new laptop too, and my goal is simple: to find a 13" MacBook Air that isn't made by Apple.
Context & Ripple Effects
Intel had already defined an Ultrabook component-cost target in August, framing thin Windows laptops as a direct response to the MacBook Air. Its $300 million promotion plan adds marketing leverage to that cost-constrained Ultrabook design target.
The effort follows an earlier pattern in which PC makers looked to MacBook Air component choices as a template. Intel is attempting to turn that imitation into a supplier-led product category rather than leaving each PC vendor to market a thin laptop alone.
First-order effects
- Intel commits supplier marketing resources to Ultrabooks, giving participating PC makers a coordinated way to position thin laptops against Apple's MacBook Air.
- Apple faces a broader set of Intel-backed MacBook Air alternatives, rather than competition limited to isolated Windows notebook designs.
Second-order effects
- PC makers and component suppliers must meet Intel's sub-$710 parts target while delivering the thin-and-light design the campaign is built around, making component cost a central competitive constraint.
- Intel's category promotion reduces the burden on individual PC brands to establish the Ultrabook label, but makes their products more directly comparable with one another on design and price.
Third-order effects
- If the campaign gains vendor adoption, Intel's role in PCs shifts further from processor supplier toward coordinator of a hardware category's design, cost and marketing requirements.
- The move points to notebooks competing increasingly on visible industrial design and portability, with shared platform specifications narrowing hardware differentiation among PC makers.
The trend: Intel is using platform specifications and marketing funds to help PC makers compete in a market where thin design has become a primary product signal.