Acer, ASUS and Lenovo will launch Intel-powered “Ultrabooks” priced below $1,000 during the fourth quarter of this year, Intel’s executive vice president Sean Maloney said during an event in Taipei. Several of Intel’s other partners aren’t as sure they will be able to hit that price target. DigiTimes said the bill of materials to build an 11.6-inch Ultrabook exceeds $700, which doesn’t leave a lot of room for profits. However, Intel did recently announced that it will invest $300 million in its Ultrabook initiative during the next three to four years, which could be used to offer manufacturers a subsidy per unit for marketing efforts. That, in turn, might help Intel’s partners keep their devices priced below $1,000. Intel hopes its new Ultrabooks will grab a 40% share of the notebook market by the end of 2012.
