Context: Ultrabook sales stall on price

Ultrabook prices will need to fall sharply to stop consumers shunning the form factor in favour of tablet and netbook PCs.

This is the view of market watcher Context, which said the devices - which have been hotly tipped to take off this year by Intel - will not make a serious dent in the PC market unless their price falls.

According to Context's figures, the average selling price (ASP) of ultrabooks sold through distribution in western Europe during the fourth quarter of 2011 was €670 (£557).

Meanwhile, the ASP for consumer notebooks was €410 and €197 for netbooks.

Marie-Christine Pygott, senior analyst at Context, said the majority of PC buyers favour lower-priced devices, which could hold back ultrabook sales.

"Ultrabooks were launched in a market characterised by strong economic constraints and very tight consumer wallets," she said.

"With traditional notebook pricing decreasing year on year, consumers [who] are buying notebooks over tablet PCs are still doing so with price points in mind, rather than weight and battery life."

Pygott said ultrabook prices are expected to drop over the course of 2012, as more vendors enter a market that is currently dominated by Acer, Samsung, Asus and Lenovo.

Context's Q4 figures put Acer in the ultrabook market's pole position, with its devices accounting for 62 per cent of sales through western European distribution.

"Once competition heats up and prices come down, ultrabooks stand a good chance of selling in greater numbers," added Pygott.

"So long as the price point is higher than that of an iPad, consumers are more likely to choose a tablet PC or cheap notebook, particularly if the current economic pressures persist."

Context's findings come a week after Intel chief executive Paul Otellini predicted  that ultrabooks would be 40 per cent of the total consumer laptop by the end of 2012.