According to DigiTimes' industry sources, HP and Dell will launch their first ultrabooks sometime after rival system vendors, including Acer, Asus, Toshiba and Lenovo. The former reportedly plans to ramp up ultrabook production at the end of this year via Taiwanese manufacturer Quanta Computer, while the latter company has contracted Wistron to produce a 14-inch machine that will be displayed during CES 2012 in January.

The sources also revealed that Wistron is manufacturing Acer's 13.3-inch Aspire S3, Compal Electronics is working on the 15-inch Aspire S3 as well as Lenovo's IdeaPad U300s, while Pegatron Technology is whipping up Asus' 11.6-inch UX21 and 13-inch UX31. We haven't seen too many strict release dates, but most of those devices are expected imminently -- certainly before next year based on existing information.

Because HP and Dell will lag behind their immediate competition, some folks believe the companies intend to ship their initial offerings with Intel's next-generation 22nm processing architecture, Ivy Bridge. Although that isn't impossible, it seems unlikely. Leaked roadmaps and separate sources have repeatedly suggested that Ivy Bridge will emerge in March or April 2012 instead of Intel's customary January unveiling and launch.

In somewhat related news, VR-Zone reports that some Ivy Bridge ultrabooks will feature extremely high-resolution displays. While most of the upcoming MacBook Air rivals will carry a typical 1366x768 screen, some will cram 2560x1440 pixels into a 13.3-inch panel -- albeit for a premium. Such a pixel density would likely push the ultrabook's price north of Intel's recommended $1,000 mark, and battery life would take a hit too.