Apple is reported to have sold 1.2 million of its razor thin and uber light MacBook Airs during the holiday shopping season. This report comes as competing PC manufacturers hope to steal some of Apple’s thunder by introducing their own “Ultrabooks” at this week’s Consumer Electronics Show.
AppleInsider’s Sam Oliver reports:
Apple’s 1.2 million MacBook Airs reportedly sold in the December quarter was 200,000 more than Apple achieved in the September quarter, according to DigiTimes. That made Apple the only vendor that managed to maintain its total notebook shipments from the third quarter to the fourth of calendar 2011.
Contrasting Apple’s strong performance, companies like Asus and Lenovo were hard hit by a hard drive shortage caused by the floods in Thailand. On average, industry notebook shipments were said to have dropped between 5 and 7 percent.
The strong performance for the Air comes as Apple is expected to refresh the ultra-portable line once Intel’s Ivy Bridge chips debut.
PC makers hope to grab some of the success Apple has had with it’s MacBook Air lineup with their own “me-too” notebooks based on the “Ultrabook” specification set forth from Intel. The companies plan to price models comparable to the Air at around $50 to $100 below Apple’s pricing of the Air.
