A report from ABI Research said that of the 22.5 million notebook shipments in 2013, the ultra portable segment held 12.3 percent of the market.
Selling prices worldwide averaged between $940 to $1,540 but the higher end represented the majority of the ultra portables sold.
Most of these machines use the Windows 8 OS, which “suffered fits and starts during 2013”, largely because of usability problems and “poor first impresions”.
ABI believes that many people and organisations are still waiting for hiccups in the OS to be sorted out. And as tablet prices fall, many are testing the water with the slate form factor.
LTE mobile broadband will soon become a key differentiator as it reaches critical mass.
