If taking on iPad with a rival tablet proves fruitless, perhaps Apple's competitors should consider taking the device down via an entirely different sector instead.

A report by Juniper Research suggests shipment figures of Ultrabooks based on Intel's new Atom family will grow at a faster rate than tablets between now and 2016.

Closing the gap

The company concludes that though total tablet shipments will still outnumber those of Ultrabooks, the yearly gap between the two will come down as growth of the notebooks outstrips that of tablets by 3 to 1.

The reason, Juniper concludes, is because Intel has built up Ultrabook to stand as a premium notebook, in much the same manner iPad serves as the default tablet for most consumers.

The launch of Windows 8 will offer an extra boost, but Intel will have to be wary not to price the masses out of the market.

The premium price

"While Intel's control of the brand ensures that Ultrabooks stand out from traditional notebooks, vendors face a balancing act in terms of product strategy," noted report author Daniel Ashdown.

"Meeting Intel's specification secures brand status and funding, but the step-change from notebooks means many of today's Ultrabooks are too expensive for many consumers."

As such, Juniper concludes tablet shipments in 2016 will hit 253 million, compared to 178 million for Ultrabooks.

The report - Ultrabooks & Mobile Computing - can be downloaded from Juniper's website priced £2,500.