个人电脑将进入轻薄时代

The stakes are high for many companies — but particularly for Intel and Microsoft Corp., dominant suppliers to PC makers whose growth rates have been surpassed as demand has swelled for other kinds of mobile devices. Sales of tablets across the globe, for example, are expected to rise nearly 63% in 2012 to more than 103 million units, predicts research firm Gartner Inc. World-wide PC shipments, by contrast, are expected to rise 4.5% to about 370 million units.

对于许多厂商来说，赌注还是比较高的，但对英特尔和微软来说就尤其如此。英特尔和微软是PC制造商的供应商，长期以来占据着市场主导地位。随着对其他种类的移动设备需求的膨胀，这些PC制造商的增长率正在被赶超。据市场研究公司Gartner Inc.预测，2012年全球平板电脑的销量将会提高63%，增加到1.03亿台以上。相比之下，全球的个人电脑预计会增长4.5%，达到3.7亿台。

Intel helped marshal a response for the broader PC industry by kicking off the Ultrabook initiative in late May at a Taiwan trade show. It has set up a $300 million venture-capital fund to support related technology companies, and is expected to boost its advertising and promotional support to PC makers to drive demand for Ultrabooks.  

英特尔在5月末的台湾商业展中推出了Ultrabook计划，这是该公司对广泛意义上的PC行业做出的一个回应。英特尔已经设立了一个价值3亿美元的风险投资基金，用于支持相关的技术公司。外界预期英特尔将加强对PC制造商在广告和促销方面的支持，拉动市场对Ultrabook的需求。

The chip maker expects the more attractive size and features of Ultrabooks to transform the laptop category, bolstered by plans to roll out successive generations of chips to help drive up performance and battery life. Though not many Ultrabooks are quite as thin as the MacBook Air — which tapers from a thickness of 0.68 inch to 0.11 inch at one point — Intel expects dimensions to shrink rapidly.

英特尔希望Ultrabook在尺寸和功能方面能够更吸引人，为笔记本行业带来变革。该公司有计划连续推出几代芯片来提升Ultrabook的表现和电池续航时间。尽管多数Ultrabook都不像 MacBook Air那样轻薄(最厚处1.7厘米，最薄处0.3厘米)，但英特尔期待着Ultrabook能够迅速实现瘦身。

Intel predicts Ultrabooks will account for about 40% of consumer portable PC sales in 2012. IHS iSuppli sees Ultrabooks hitting 43% of world-wide notebook PC shipments by 2015.

据英特尔公司预测，Ultrabook将会占到2012年便携电脑销量的约40%。据美国市场研究公司IHS iSuppli预计，到2015年，Ultrabooks将会占据全球笔记本电脑出货量的43%。