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Intel: ultrabook prices will drop to $699, 75 new designs already in the pipeline

Intel: ultrabook prices will drop to $699, 75 new designs already in the pipeline

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After teasing 50 new ultrabook designs for CES earlier this year, Intel's now promising we'll see 75 even newer SKUs over the coming months.

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intel ultrabooks
intel ultrabooks

After teasing 50 new ultrabook designs for CES earlier this year, Intel's now promising we'll see 75 even newer SKUs over the coming months. The x86 chip designer and producer is feeling bullish about its future laptop strategy and even forecasts that entry-level prices for ultrabooks will dip below the $700 mark in time for the back-to-school shopping period this autumn. Aggressive pricing wasn't supposed to be at the core of the ultrabook ethos (and Acer even told us that $799 prices aren't sustainable), but Intel clearly appreciates the pressure it's under from ARM-based devices, whether they be tablets like the iPad or forthcoming laptops running Windows 8.

"I think we can deliver the best of a tablet, and the best in what (users) know in a notebook."

Among the multivariate OEM ultrabook designs to come — most of them likely relying on the imminent Ivy Bridge CPU — will be hybrid touchscreen devices, which will be able to alternate between the laptop and tablet form factors. Nothing is being left to chance with Intel's Ivy Bridge ultrabook push, which includes a big-budget advertising campaign and will be augmented with dedicated ultrabook demo zones in stores, serving to differentiate those products from regular laptops. And lest you're worried so much variety and choice will dilute the meaning of the term "ultrabook," IDG News quotes Intel's Kirk Skaugen as saying the company "plans to ensure ultrabooks have a consistent experience. And if it's too thick it won't be called an ultrabook."