An estimated 12.3% (22.5 million) of the notebook shipments in 2013 (182.7 million) fit into the ultra-portable segment, according to market intelligence firm ABI Research. The on-year growth of ultra-portables reached 100% from 2012 to 2013.

"Across 24 countries tracked in November 2013, we found average ultra-portable PC selling prices ranging from US$940-US$1540 with the majority of models offered above US$1200 in each country," said senior practice director, Jeff Orr. "The ASPs suggest ultra-portables, including convertible and detachable 2-in-1 configurations, remained at the high-end of the notebook category exiting 2013."

Beyond Apple's MacBook Air running Mac OS, the bulk of ultra-portable PCs are powered by Windows 8, which suffered fits and starts during 2013 due to usability issues and poor first impressions by early adopter audiences. A revision, Windows 8.1, was released in the second half of the year to address these concerns, though popular opinion suggests many considering a refresh to their existing systems are willing to wait for the hiccups to be worked out before making a financial commitment, said ABI. And with tablet prices coming down on year, many consumer budgets that are still reeling from a global recession are willing to experiment with the lower-cost, slate form-factor, the firm said.

Looking ahead, ABI Research said it expects LTE mobile broadband as a standard feature to become a differentiator for the mobile network operator channel, enhancing its selling opportunity beyond smartphones. "As LTE reaches critical mass for network coverage, markets will be able to abandon 3G mode compatibility and carriers will readily shift toward LTE-only modems in data-centric computing applications," added Orr. By 2015, North America will relinquish the regional lead for ultra-portables as Asia-Pacific pushes forward due to market saturation in the early adopter countries.