With full Computex kick-off less than a day away, the pre-event news continues to roll-out, with a serious focus on announcements of Windows 8 all-in-one PCs and Ultrabooks, details of which we can expect from our team over in Taipei in the coming days.
In the meantime, Intel has announced that research into Ultrabook chassis design has finally paid-off. Using a combination of 'structural reduction analysis' and new component layouts, the firm has come up with a design that reduces material and production costs, without sacrificing chassis strength, a saving which Reuters suggests could equate to a reduction in consumer prices of £16 to £48 per unit across the board.
Whilst any price saving production techniques are a very welcome thing indeed, we can't help but feel Intel is trying its best to honour its promise of lower prices by making savings in all other areas whilst, maintaining existing profit margins on its own Ultra-mobile Ivy Bridge processors. When you consider that a mid-range ultra-mobile Core i5 is $225 in 1k unit amounts, that Intel also provides the chip-set and now Thunderbolt controllers for next-gen Ultrabooks, Intel's slice of the pie certainly adds up and, with reports of the firm potentially cost-cutting in areas such as thermal interface material, it would be nice to see an announcement of chip-production cost savings being passed on to manufacturers.
At least for now, we can look forward to some potential prices drops in the future thanks to smarter chassis designs.
