CNETAnalysis: Intel has revealed its latest laptop-based chip plans over at Computex, putting the emphasis on low power and skinny looks in order to claw back some share from the tablet market. The term Intel has coined for this ‘new’ category is ‘Ultrabook’, which we’ve already reported to the hyperbole police and expect the chip maker to be hauled into the exaggeration station along with Steve ‘Magical’ Jobs and HTC any minute now. Although no official Ultrabook products have been unveiled, Intel’s executive vice president, Sean Maloney, reckons they “will make up 40 per cent of the market by the end of 2012.” A bridge too far It’s all thanks to the 22nm Ivy Bridge chipset, which will be a diminuitive 0.8-inches thick and provide faster responses and ‘tablet-like features’. If it wants to hit 40 per cent of the consumer market, Intel better keep the pricing of the Ivy Bridge chips manageable, pointing to a sub $1,000 price point to be getting on with. Intel has been getting all cosy with Asus to show off the first ultrabook, imaginatively dubbed the UX21 Asus Ultrabook, which runs the latest 2nd gen Intel Core processor aka Sandy Bridge, and looks a lot like a MacBook Air to us. The first of these ultrabooks will ready and raring to go for the 2011 Christmas shopping season, while the Ivy Bridge chips should make their way to computers in the early part of 2012.
