By all means, Intel was on top of its game in the second quarter of 2012. The Santa Clara chip maker reported quarterly revenue of $13.5 billion, operating income of $3.8 billion, and net income of $2.8 billion. Talk all you want about the PC sales slump, Intel still performed well, with its PC Client Group pulling in $8.7 billion in revenue, up 3 percent sequentially, along with its Data Center Group adding another $2.8 billion (up 14 percent sequentially). If the numbers are so strong, why is Wall Street on edge?

It's fairly easy to find capable Ultrabooks priced below Intel's recommended $1,000 ceiling, something that was a bit of a challenge when the form factor first emerged. Pricing has trended downwards for the past several months, but don't be surprised if some next generation Ultrabook models reverse that trend due to higher quality displays with touchscreen functionality and 3D support.

At the end of the day, it doesn't really matter if Apple's MacBook Air provided inspiration for Intel's Ultrabook platform and AMD's push into ultrathin territory, or whether these new generation of thin and light machines represent a natural evolution of the form factor. What matters is which platform will rule the day, and thus seize the lion's share of the market and the financial rewards that come with it. At least one analyst believes that platform belongs to Apple.