Monica Chen, Taipei; Joseph Tsai

 

Intel is expected to officially announce its latest Ivy Bridge processors at the end of April. First-tier notebook brand vendors have been aggressively competing for available capacity from Intel, according to sources from notebook players.

Mass shipments of Ivy Bridge processors were originally reported to be delayed by eight weeks, but Intel has recently responded that the company will only postpone the launch by a few weeks and production is on schedule according to its existing plans.

However, the sources noted that Intel has adjusted its Ivy Bridge processor capacity deployment and has increased the proportion for ultrabook and smartphone platforms. As for the traditional desktop and notebook segments, Intel will mainly supply high-end processors initially.

With vendors aggressively placing orders for Ivy Bridge-based ultrabook processors, some vendors are expected to be able to release their second-generation ultrabooks as soon as May with prices to also drop to around US$799-899.

By the end of 2012, ultrabooks are expected to account for 15-20% of total consumer notebook shipments with the proportion to rise to 40% in 2013 and surpass 50% by the end of 2013, the sources noted.

Intel's new Ivy Bridge-based ultrabook processors that will launch at the end of April will include dual-core i7-2677M at 1.8GHz (US$317), Core i7-2637M at 1.7GHz (US$289), Core i5-2557M at 1.7GHz (US$250), Core i7-2657M at 1.6GHz (US$317), Core i7-2617M at 1.5GHz (US$289) and Core i5-2537M at 1.8GHz (US$259).