US SMBs Intend to Purchase 3.6 Million Ultrabooks in 2012, 1 in 5 PCs Purchased to be Ultrabooks

SAN JOSE, Calif., Jan. 3, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Techaisle's recent study on purchase intention of Ultrabooks reveals that at least 3.6 million Ultrabooks will be purchased by US SMBs in 2012, resulting in 1 in 5 PCs shipped to SMBs. While only 23 percent of SMBs are aware about Ultrabooks, 65 percent of those aware have shown intent to purchase. Providing better business functionality than tablets, declining prices and increased marketing from Intel and its OEM partners, SMB Ultrabook shipment could jump to as high as 7 million as shown in the study. With increased mobility, size and weight of mobile PCs have become important factors for road warriors, who want to be able to work from anywhere and everywhere they go.

While Ultrabooks are considered more stylish and cool as compared to other form factors, including tablets, pricing is an important issue for SMBs. Nevertheless, Ultrabooks have created enough excitement among SMBs and combining with Windows 8 gives it a compelling purchase decision.

Among the features of Ultrabooks: long battery life, lightweight, built in security features, ability to run Windows 8 and fast boot times are important. Once the SMBs begin to use Ultrabooks, they will also find instant on, always on capability as a strong feature.

Looking forward, nearly 50 percent of SMBs have expressed their desire to purchase Ultrabooks instead of notebooks. When asked about comparing Ultrabooks with tablets in terms of mobility and performance, there was almost an equal split.

Says Tavishi Agrawal, Techaisle, "Surprisingly, 70 percent SMBs felt that Ultrabooks are better than MacBook Air. While MacBook Air may have created the initial buzz, most SMBs feel tied to the Windows platform and are also enticed by the lower starting prices of Ultrabooks than MacBook Air."

For further inquiries and purchase of the Ultrabook study, please contact [email protected].

About Techaisle
Techaisle is a global SMB ICT Market Research and Industry Analyst organization delivering forward looking insights and tracking the future of SMBs and Channels. Techaisle conducts surveys with SMBs and channels to understand market trends, opportunities, buying behavior, purchase intent, and IT priorities. Techaisle offers its clients: SMB & Channels focused Syndicated Research, Custom Consulting, Market Forecast and Competitive Intelligence. For more information on Techaisle or its global products/services, please visit www.techaisle.com.

SOURCE Techaisle