"We are bullish on where these kinds of products will go," said Hortensius, who is the senior vice president of the product group at Lenovo. "They will come in the sub-$800 category so they will be much more affordable."

Ultrabook designs are evolving, and touchscreen models will likely appeal to new buyers who will be able to take full advantage of Windows 8, which is a touch-based user interface.

"We also think because of thin and light design points, when you couple them with Windows 8, you see many interesting form factors enabled," Hortensius said.

Lenovo has already shown the IdeaPad Yoga, a tablet-ultrabook hybrid with a touchscreen that can be folded to work either as a tablet or an ultrabook. While Lenovo has done touchscreen laptops before, the previous Windows operating systems were retrofitted with touch capabilities. Microsoft has designed Windows 8 from the ground up with touch as a core feature.

"Windows 8 ... enables a bunch of new capabilities. It enables a new segment," Hortensius said. "Historically when you look at transitions, consumers switch quickly because they want the latest and greatest."