New generation ultra-thin laptops can be made of glass fiber

Ultra-thin laptops made of fiberglass and plastic allow production costs to be reduced to 10 USD.

Asus AX21 will be one of the first ultrabooks released in September this year. (Photo: Notebookcheck.)

According to Digitimes , manufacturers of ultra-thin laptops (ultrabooks) can use glass fiber processing materials due to limited supply of magnesium alloys.

Apple is said to be the subject of this situation because it is one of the biggest customers for Taiwan's magnesium alloy manufacturers. This makes it difficult for other notebook manufacturers to access supplies for this material.

"Apple" Macbook computers use frames made of magnesium alloy to reduce the volume and thickness of the device while maintaining maximum performance. The company exported 2.7 million computers in the first quarter of 2011.

Meanwhile, glass fiber is better and cheaper than magnesium alloy. Digitimes said that glass fiber and plastic compounds allow the price of ultrabook to be $ 10 cheaper than conventional machines made of magnesium alloy. Currently, there are three manufacturers using this material for their products.

By definition, the thickest laptop is 2 cm, so it is called ultrabook. This is the goal that ultrabook manufacturers are always aiming for.