Acer may have rushed to introduce skinny laptops based on Intel's Ultrabook specification - it debuted the Aspire S3 at the IFA show in September - but fellow top-three PC vendors Dell and HP haven't.

Clearly heeding Intel's warning that much better Ultrabook-centric chippery - its next-gen 'Ivy Bridge' platform, essentially - is on its way early next year, Dell and HP are now gearing up to launch their entries into the market in the early 2012 timeframe.

Acer's S3

Both have ordered contract manufacturers to prepare for late 2011 production, reports DigiTimes.

Undoubtedly, both vendors will announce their offerings at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas in the second week of January 2012.

Acer leapt into the Ultrabook arena last month, as did Asus, Lenovo and Toshiba - the latter offering the Portégé Z830. ®