Intel to exit traditional desktop mainboards business after Haswell

By yowanvista
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yowanvista

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In what will only be interpreted as more evidence of the dawn of the ?Post PC era,? Intel announced today that it will quit the consumer motherboard business after 20 years and end all production and development of mainboards after its next CPU is introduced. The company said it would wind down operations of its Intel Channel Board Division over the next three years with the final new designs released around the company?s upcoming ?Haswell? CPU.

?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 today. ?As Intel gradually ramps down its motherboard business we are ramping up critical areas of the desktop space including integration of innovative solutions for the PC ecosystem such as reference design development, NUC, and other areas to be discussed later.

Intel to Quit Making Motherboards

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PGHammer

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And well, this is actually fair. I've read some people saying that the Intel boards aren't as good or full-featured as their counterparts from other vendors.

More power to ASUS, Gigabyte, MSI, etc. I guess

Intel is also the higher-priced brand - even compared to ASUS (which isn't exactly cheap).

If you look at Intel motherboards compared to other brands, even where components are not merely similar, but identical, Intel is often NOT the bargain choice. (That is also why I have NEVER - and in ever - bought an Intel-branded motherboard.)

It's not that Intel doesn't make good motherboards; they do. Intel's branded motherboards are still the corporate standard because they are reference-standard-grade - fancy they are NOT.

The problem is that Intel lacks any sort of advantage (except in terms of perception) to the AIBs (even in the Intel-CPU space) - Intel has been an afterthought except when Intel is specified.

It's like prescription drugs - generics cost less; therefore, generics are preferred where possible, not just by insurers, but even by doctors.

Still, this has been touted before (in fact, way back after Intel was forced to shelve the original 820R chipset due to the debacle with RAMBUS) - yet Intel has survived (including their branded-motherboard business).

However, there will doubtless be some reason why the Intel-branded motherboard can soldier on (didn't Intel, in fact, start pushing their branded motherboards through MicroCenter - which they had NOT been doing?).

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Torolol

Posted
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well, as someone who tried Intel Motherboards,

I can confidently say they are "averages" in performances,

yet a bit more expensive than other vendors motherboards which offer similar performances or better at lesser cost.

even know i still can't quite fathom why its more expensive?

this quiting moves probably causes by Intel's foiled plan (due public pressures),

which said want to abandon socketed CPU and release BGA chips only.

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+pmrd Subscriber²

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...and an unrelated news: AMD just won another customer.

And the award for not reading the article goes to you. AMD doesn't make motherboards

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+Mirumir Subscriber¹

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When it comes to motherboards, I only turned to Intel for dual socket server boards.

To a PC enthusiast, Intel's workstation boards were never appealing because of the company's grudge against over-clockers.

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threetonesun

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yes

That's a logical conclusion considering they're not making motherboards anymore. :laugh:

It's a shame we can't downvote things on this forum... anyway, the only "bad" thing about this is Intel definitely offered budget motherboards that could be found in bundles on the cheap which were a nice option for a basic home computer. But, I'm sure someone will fill that void pretty quickly.

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Yusuf M. Veteran

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This won't be a big deal to enthusiasts and PC gamers because the vast majority of them buy non-Intel motherboards. I have seen some good Intel motherboards though. Contrary to what some people might believe, Intel made high-end motherboards (which were oddly overpriced compared to their third-party counterparts).

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threetonesun

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Contrary to what some people might believe, Intel made high-end motherboards (which were oddly overpriced compared to their third-party counterparts).

I don't know that high end is the right word, in all cases. They made some high end boards, they made a lot of very reliable reference boards, and they seemed to be universally expensive unless you could get a deal on them. It was similar to what ATi did when they were still making cards.

Grand Master

Orange Battery

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I really don't like the thought of desktop users becoming 'enthusiasts' again. Just seems like prices will go up.

Tablets and touch are great, but nothing beats a Desktop and its power for your main hub of control over everything.

Grand Master

Noir Angel

Posted
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I don't see this as being the dawn of the "post PC era" at all, Intel are simply stopping motherboard manufacture because it was never really an overly large business for them and it's probably reached a time at which it's worth their time to focus on other things.

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Brandon H Supervisor

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So Intel will still make the sockets and CPU's, yes ?

of course, just not their own motherboards anymore (which were never the greatest mobos anyway)
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