Asus & Acer Reduce Zenbook & Aspire S3 Ultrabook Orders From Suppliers

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Intel’s Ultrabooks may note be as popular as brands like Asus and Acer want. As such, sources say the two companies are reducing orders from suppliers by as much as 40%. Is the MacBook Air still the clear winner in this market?

Notebook manufacturers have been banking on Intel’s Ultrabook platform to be a serious competitor to Apple’s MacBook Air line. But while manufacturers like Asus, Acer, Samsung and Toshiba have been outing their respective Ultrabooks, it seems the platform is not as marketable as originally thought. DigiTimes cites sources saying that Asustek and Acer — both Taiwanese companies — have reduced Ultrabook orders from suppliers and component vendors by about 40%.

This translates to a reduction from the originally targeted 250,000 to 300,000 units by end of 2011 to a reduced estimate of 150,000 to 180,000 due to poor sales figures in the first month after launch.

Asus’ spokesman David Chang declined to comment specifically on these reports, although he says the company is optimistic about demand for the Zenbook, and that their sales projections remain unchanged. Meanwhile, Acer says their Ultrabook shipments are as expected, and that they did not over-commit with their manufacturers.

Ultrabooks from both cited companies cost between $1,000 to $1,700, although neither the Asus Zenbook nor Acer Aspire S3 have advantages over the Apple MacBook Air in terms of industrial design or performance, which are crucial to winning consumers over to the Ultrabook side. Manufacturers are likely to be banking on the release of  Windows 8 by October 2012, which might help boost sales of Windows-powered notebook computers.