Everybody is in Line Behind Tim Cook

Intel has pushed hard (and ponied up big bucks) to get PC makers to produce “Ultrabook” laptops competitive with Apple’s MacBook Air lineup — so far without much success. Here’s one reason why:

Supply of metal chassis for ultraportable PC notebooks remains constrained as Apple has reportedly locked up most of the capacity available from suppliers.

Taiwanese tech industry publication DigiTimes reported on Tuesday that metal chassis supply “continues to suffer from shortage.” The reason: Apple is buying most of the supply available for its unibody MacBook lineup, including the MacBook Pro and MacBook Air.

The two largest metal chassis manufacturers, Catcher Technology and Foxconn, have reportedly been “aggressively establishing new CNC machines.” But they are said to be unlikely to full demand until the end of 2012.

This is why it’s better to innovate than to copy.