Intel exits the desktop motherboard business to focus on new form factors

[AtenRa]

Intel exits the desktop motherboard business to focus on new form factors

After some 20 years of selling branded desktop motherboards, Intel will begin exiting this portion of its business, Intel spokesman Dan Snyder has told PCWorld. The Santa Clara chip giant will begin the retreat from desktop motherboards as soon as its next-generation Haswell CPU ships, and plans to dissolve its Desktop Motherboard Business unit over the next three years.

link

Edit: AT also got a story on it

http://www.anandtech.com/show/6685/...board-business-to-ramp-down-over-next-3-years

 

[Lonbjerg]

Anyone now doubting that Intel has it sights set on ARM?

But it won't change anything on the PC side...just shows that ARM, not AMD is Intel's main goal now.

 

[StrangerGuy]

Intel built mobos may have made sense in the days of using jumper boards for BIOS configuration, but now they have been pointless for over a decade.

 

[Charles Kozierok]

This was predictable, at least as much due to the migration of most of the chipset onto the CPU as anything else.

Though part of me is still a bit surprised that they'd just give up this market, given how many people trust and value the Intel name. Maybe they just see the future as being Taiwanese makers fighting over a shrinking enthusiast market, and most of everything else being custom boards due to form factor restrictions.

 

[SPBHM]

I still own one Intel MB (775, 965G chipset), and have owned a few in the past, but honestly...
they have average or lower quality components on most boards, not so great bios implementations... and pricing was never competitive...

I'm not going to miss Intel as a MB manufacturer.

 

[Lonbjerg]

This was predictable, at least as much due to the migration of most of the chipset onto the CPU as anything else.

Though part of me is still a bit surprised that they'd just give up this market, given how many people trust and value the Intel name. Maybe they just see the future as being Taiwanese makers fighting over a shrinking enthusiast market, and most of everything else being custom boards due to form factor restrictions.

They are not giving it up.
They just leave the field to Asus ect.
Those manufactors will still make mobo's for Intel CPU's with Intel chipsets.

My bet....to low margins in MoBo's for Intel to be interested.

 

[Charles Kozierok]

Is there a difference between giving up a market and leaving it?

 

[Lonbjerg]

Is there a difference between giving up a market and leaving it?

Yes...and you still will be able to buy motherboards with Intel chipsets, designed accordingly to Intel's guidelines.
What Intel is doing is stepping away from the part of motherboards where they have low margins....the motherboards themselfes.

They will still make design guidelines to motherboards using Intel CPU's.
But as Intel is going more and more towards a SoC solution, motherboards are becomming more and more irrelvant.

Wouldn't surpise me if the first intel desktop SoC systems hits the strees in ~3 years time or so.

 

[AtenRa]

Wouldn't surpise me if the first intel desktop SoC systems hits the strees in ~3 years time or so.

There are already Intel Desktop motherboards with embedded SoC ATOM CPUs.

 

[BrightCandle]

What I would really like to see is Intel to start putting out specifications for motherboards for laptops. Particular spaces and designs for certain classes of laptops so we can start to standardise the form factor and get back to upgradeable parts. Not all laptops need to be custom board, it would be nice to be able to build one from off the shelf parts that still had a reasonable size because the parts were designed to go into the hole given to them but with little extra space.

I anticipate however this is more a ramp for broadwell where they are moving the platform expertise into SOCs.

 

[StrangerGuy]

What I would really like to see is Intel to start putting out specifications for motherboards for laptops. Particular spaces and designs for certain classes of laptops so we can start to standardise the form factor and get back to upgradeable parts. Not all laptops need to be custom board, it would be nice to be able to build one from off the shelf parts that still had a reasonable size because the parts were designed to go into the hole given to them but with little extra space.

I anticipate however this is more a ramp for broadwell where they are moving the platform expertise into SOCs.

Ahahaha...Not going to happen. Even if Intel wanted that, greedy cost-cutting laptop makers will make darn sure it doesn't happen.

 

[AdamK47]

Intel brand motherboards have been outclassed in just about ever single area by 3rd party board makers for quite some time.

 

[blackened23]

Ahahaha...Not going to happen. Even if Intel wanted that, greedy cost-cutting laptop makers will make darn sure it doesn't happen.

Intel is focusing on ultrabook and smaller handheld, tablet form factors - not the laptop. I just can't see intel investing any amount of time in user upgrade-ability of the ultrabook platform. It isn't really feasible, IMO.

The best we can hope for is RAM and SSD upgradeability.

 

[GrumpyMan]

I always buy Asus, so it's a non issue to me, but interesting anyway how the whole spectrum is shifting manufacturing wise.

 

[Homeles]

Good riddance.

 

[AdamK47]

Good riddance.

to good rubbish.

 

[UNhooked]

Does that mean that they won't be putting out new Chipsets as well?

 

[Lonbjerg]

Does that mean that they won't be putting out new Chipsets as well?

No.

 

[Elixer]

I guess this is one way for intel to avoid all the RMA issues once they go soldered on CPUs on all motherboards.
Short term, it would be a loss for them, but long term, they just keep pumping out $$$.

 

[Face2Face]

Good, they were boring anyway.

 

[skipsneeky2]

Sucks i guess,Just installed a X79TO into my rig and have been loving it,been issue free since the install over 2 weeks ago and even has some rocking overclocking profiles for my 3930k,this is prob one of the better boards as far as profiles,4.5ghz can be applied with a keystroke with the correct 1.35v vcore.:biggrin:

My first intel motherboard purchase and not regretting it,but can see why intel would have a hard time with so many other makers having much more to offer in the need of features and functions.

 

[VirtualLarry]

This isn't too surprising. Intel boards were not standouts, by any means. Generally, they were considered very stable, but they were not really that feature-rich, compared to 3rd-party motherboards (ESPECIALLY in the overclocking dept).

Possible too that they feel that the enthusiast market is shrinking (I have no idea if that's true, I saw it commented on in another thread some time ago that the enthusiast sector is actually growing slightly), and they wanted to get out of a shrinking market.

 

[cbn]

What I would really like to see is Intel to start putting out specifications for motherboards for laptops. Particular spaces and designs for certain classes of laptops so we can start to standardise the form factor and get back to upgradeable parts. Not all laptops need to be custom board, it would be nice to be able to build one from off the shelf parts that still had a reasonable size because the parts were designed to go into the hole given to them but with little extra space.

This started in 2008 (for business class) with Rich Creek 2:

http://www.crn.com/news/channel-pro...ich-creek-2-to-debut-in-laptops-next-week.htm

A group of notebooks powered by Intel (NSDQ:INTC)'s new Rich Creek 2 mobile motherboard, designed to give system builders' the muscle to go head to head against computer giants like Dell (NSDQell) in the notebook market, will be featured at next week's Intel Solutions Summit.

(snip) System builders said Rich Creek 2 provides for the first time the same kind of Intel standard motherboard that powered huge growth in both the desktop and server markets for them.

The Rich Creek 2 platform marks the first time Intel has put its own reference design muscle behind a mobile motherboard that bears its own name. System builders predicted that Rich Creek 2 combined with standards-based enclosures, multiple options for displays and drives will for the first time give system builders the ability to deliver business class notebooks with more bang for the buck than computer makers like Hewlett Packard, Lenovo and Acer.

"Rich Creek 2 gives us the ability to build custom notebooks just like we do desktops," said Maser. "This is the first time that the system builder community has been able to build a notebook from the ground up that is 100 percent build to order. Now we can compete (against larger computer makers) and build exactly what the customer wants."

Maser says Rich Creek 2 marks a turning point in what has been a multi-year effort by Intel (NSDQ:INTC) to try to provide system builders with standards-based ingredients to compete more ferociously against giant computer manufacturers in the fast growing notebook segment.

The serviceability benefits of the Rich Creek 2 mobile motherboard are "huge" for system builders, said Maser. "It's an Intel board," he said, noting it provides the flexibility that allows system builders to immediately swap out a board. That has not been the case with the current crop of motherboard options for whitebook builders. He said it could take days or even weeks to get a mother board replacement.

Still waiting to see what happens for enthusiast and mainstream.

 

[Bman123]

I never even considered buying a intel motherboard, the pricing was never right for what you got in return.

 

[Torn Mind]

Those who need an Intel motherboard are very niche customers are those who build their own and yet want reliability over everything else. Not many fit that profile.

Why buy Intel when you can buy Gigabyte and Asus if you want features and follow reputation? MSI, Asrock, etc are there for the penny pinchers.

Most businesses buy Dells and their Foxconn mobos.