Intel has rebuffed unnamed notebook makers' desire for 50 percent discounts on central processors to be used for Ultrabooks, the chip giant's new name for thin-and-light notebook PCs, according to an unconfirmed report from DigiTimes.
Instead, Intel will pony up 20 percent discounts to tier-one notebook makers on Ultrabook CPUs, according to unnamed sources cited in Tuesday's report from the Taiwan-based tech journal.
Intel kicked off its push for a new laptop category last week. Ultrabooks—think the Toshiba Satellite T235-S1350, HP Pavilion dm3t, and Apple MacBook Air 13-inch (Thunderbolt)—are part of an evolving category of incredibly thin and battery-efficient laptops with low-voltage processors that the chip maker believes will be the best-selling type of notebook in the years to come.
The 20 percent discount for certain mobile processors would be operative for Intel's dual-core, 1.8GHz Core i7-2677M, currently priced at $317 in 1,000-unit quantities, dual-core, 1.7GHz Core i7-2637M ($289), and dual-core, 1.7GHz Core i5-2557M ($250).
Intel will also provide marketing subsidies to notebook makers building Ultrabooks, according to DigiTimes.
Though the chip giant is eager to push Ultrabooks—going so far as to set up a $300 million fund to develop Ultrabook hardware and software—Intel balked at offering even higher discounts on CPUs in order to maintain gross margins in the 60 percent range, according to the journal's sources.
Meanwhile, Intel is having a tough time pitching its Oak Trail platform for tablets due to rival Nvidia's more cost-effective Tegra 2 platform, according DigiTimes. Tegra 2 costs tablet makers just about $20 per unit, whereas Oak Trail, which combines a $75 Atom Z670 CPU and the $20 SM35 chipset, accounts for about 40 percent of the cost to make a typical Google Android tablet, the journal noted.
Though Intel has offered pretty steep discounts on Oak Trail, Nvidia's Tegra 2 is the platform of choice for many tablet makers hoping to challenge Apple's dominant iPad 2.