Windows 8 ultrabooks, hybrids to see uptick this year

HP's Windows 8-based 11.6-inch Revolve ultrabook packs an Intel Ivy Bridge chip and comes with a touch screen.

(Credit: Brooke Crothers)

Laptop suppliers will continue to see weak demand in the first half, but things should pick up later in the year, IHS iSuppli said today.

After a "bleak" first quarter and a "slow" first half overall, Windows 8-based ultrathin laptops will "help revive the market" later in the year, the market researcher said.

Notebook PC shipments from the Top 5 laptop manufacturers, referred to as ODMs or Original Design Manufacturers, are forecast to amount to 35.2 million units during the first quarter, down 15 percent from 41.4 million in the fourth quarter of 2012, according to iSuppli.

All of the Top 5 ODMs are based in Asia and manufacture PCs for companies like Hewlett-Packard and Dell.

The first half will be weak for ultrathin laptops. But things should pick up later in the year.

(Credit: IHS iSuppli)

"While shipments commonly decline in the first quarter compared with the fourth, the drop this year is expected to be particularly sharp," said Peter Lin, an analyst at IHS.

Lin conti... [Read more]