Ultrabook sales have so far failed to gain momentum, but Intel expects this still-nascent market segment to find a broader audience when PC makers later this year release touch-screen Ultrabooks running on Windows 8.

To create a new market for touch-enabled Ultrabooks, Intel said Tuesday that it has agreed to help fund several touch-screen makers' investment on additional production capacity.

Intel said it has reached financial agreements with four Taiwanese touch-screen makers--Wintek Corp. (2384.TW), TPK Holding Co. (3673.TW), HannsTouch Solution Inc. and Cando Corp. (8056.OT). Intel declined to give details on how much money it will provide or the specific costs it will help shoulder.

'Intel believes that touch capability is a key component to the Ultrabook experience,' said senior vice president Tom Kilroy in an interview this week.

Intel is counting on Windows 8 to help stimulate demand for Ultrabooks as well as other PCs in the second half.

ARM, meanwhile, now sees an opportunity to work with traditional PC makers that have long been using Intel processors, thanks to Windows RT, a version of Windows 8 that supports ARM-based processors.

Taiwanese PC maker Asustek this week showed a Windows RT-based tablet with an ARM-based processor made by Nvidia, and said it plans to launch it in the fourth quarter.

Ujesh Desai, Nvidia's vice president of product marketing, said in an interview Tuesday that the new Windows operating system could also enable the company take on Intel in the market for Ultrabooks.

Mr. Desai said prices for thin, lightweight laptops that run on the Windows RT operating system with Nvidia's ARM-based Tegra processors could be as low as $499. The average price for Ultrabooks with Intel processors is about $800, and Intel is trying to lower the price to $699 by the end of this year.