Shipments of Ultrabooks will grow at three times the rate of tablets over the next five years, according to a new report from Juniper Research.
But, tablet shipments will remain higher compared to those of Ultrabooks.
The research firm forecasts 253m tablets to be shipped in 2016 as against 178m Ultrabooks.
According to report author Daniel Ashdown while Intel’s control of the brand ensures that Ultrabooks stand out from traditional notebooks, vendors face a balancing act in terms of product strategy.
"Meeting Intel’s specification secures brand status and funding, but the step-change from notebooks means many of today’s Ultrabooks are too expensive for many consumers," said Ashdown.
The report states that Flash-based storage, driving many of the enhancements in Ultrabooks, provides superior performance, but a higher price.
It also states that Windows 8 will play a crucial role in driving Ultrabook adoption, with extended battery life, always-on-always-connected and other functionalities that it will offer.
