In what could be another sign that the world is entering the post-PC era, Intel Corp. is quitting the consumer motherboard business once it introduces its new central processing unit (CPU) product.
The company, which had prided itself on PCs with "Intel inside" since the 1990s, will wind down its Intel Channel Board Division in the next three years, Maximum PC reported.
“We disclosed internally today that Intel’s Desktop Motherboard Business will begin slowly ramping down over the course of the next three years,” Intel spokesman Daniel Snyder told Maximum PC.
He added that as Intel gradually ramps down its motherboard business, it will ramp up "critical areas of the desktop space."
These include the "integration of innovative solutions for the PC ecosystem such as reference design development, NUC (next unit of computing), and other areas to be discussed later."
While Intel has rarely turned heads with its motherboards, it managed to get attention with its Skulltrail motherboard that boasted two Xeon’s rebranded as Core 2 Extreme QX9770 chips.
But Maximum PC said that board became a political football between Nvidia and Intel over Nvidia's license to make chipsets for the then new Core i7 CPUs.
It added the Skulltrail board was criticized as “ahead of its time” with other board makers emulating the Skulltrail to an extent with their own extreme dual-processor motherboards such as eVGA’s SR-series of boards.
"For the most part Intel boards have long been lauded as being 'Intel reliable' but also utterly forgettable by enthusiasts looking for the next hotness in motherboards," it said.
Maximum PC said the eventual shuttering of the board division will not likely impact Intel’s other board division known as the Customer Reference Board Group.
CRBG develops test motherboards for the companies new CPUs and even issues design guidelines and tips to third-party motherboard vendors.
Intel still values desktops
Snyder also stressed the move does not mean Intel believes that desktops are doomed.
“The Desktop segment continues to be a major focus for Intel with hundreds of products across many sub-segments and applications. Intel expects the broad and capable [desktop] motherboard ecosystem (i.e. Asus, Gigabyte, MSI and many others) to fully support Intel’s growing roadmap and large worldwide customer base,” he said.
He added Intel remains very committed to the desktop business and is making significant investments in the enthusiast platform with its K SKU portfolio and new third-generation Intel Core Extreme Processors.
"In fact, Intel’s roadmap includes 227 desktop SKUs at 34 different price points, offering desktop solutions for a wide range of customers. In addition, Intel is also significantly investing in the growing All-in-One ecosystem, contributing to 30 percent growth over the last few years,” Snyder said.
Top motherboard makers
Maximum PC said Snyder declined to say why Intel decided to shutter the division but speculated the division "wasn’t a huge money maker for the multibillion company."
It noted that as far as motherboard manufacturers are concerned, Asus presently leads with Gigabyte, Asrock, and then MSI next.
"Asus and Gigabyte combined account for roughly 70 percent of all motherboards sold worldwide, according to Taiwan-based news site, DigiTimes.com. With these numbers, it’s no surprise that most enthusiasts didn’t even know Intel made motherboards.
Yet, Maximum PC said Intel's move is likely to reignite rumors and continual conspiracy theories that it planned to ditch desktop computing entirely.
Last month, it noted Intel was said to be abandoning all sockets for all future desktops once Haswell is released in favor of BGA products that would come soldered into motherboards.
Many had speculated such a move would signal a sea change for the do-it-yourself crowd who like picking and choosing their processor separately from motherboards.
"The rumor mill grew to such a fervor that Intel itself had to step in after AMD pledged that it would support sockets for the next couple of years by saying it would support sockets for the 'foreseeable future' too," it said. — LBG, GMA News
source: gmanetwork.com
