Wow, forgive me for repost but just learned both Epox and Chaintech are dead, Abit was bought out....

[bozack]

Wow must suck to be in the mainboard business...

Wondering who else is out of business or on the edge? Kinda stinks as I have a 9npa that I guess will never get another update again.

Oh well.

 

[FireTech]

Wow, better let you know that s939 CPUs are EOL and DDR has been superseded by DDR2 too.

What was it like in prison?

 

[bozack]

Originally posted by: FireTech
Wow, better let you know that s939 CPUs are EOL and DDR has been superseded by DDR2 too.

What was it like in prison?

Way to be an ass dude, with the tech no shit huh, but with the companies IMHO that is a bit different as you have what once were known brands who fizzled out without much of a peep.

 

[Heidfirst]

Soltek are gone, Soyo apparently do still sell some mobos in China but otherwise seem to be out.
It's a tough business & we probably haven't seen all the shake out yet either.

 

[AmberClad]

Originally posted by: bozack
Wondering who else is out of business or on the edge?

Jetway has been awfully quiet these days, haven't they? They sort of disppeared after 2005. From looking at their website, they've apparently decided to focus on mini-ITX.

Oh, and Leadtek. They don't seem to be making motherboards anymore, although their video card business still seems to be active.

 

[FireTech]

Originally posted by: bozack
Way to be an ass dude, with the tech no shit huh,

Apologies, I thought you might have had a sense of humour...

but with the companies IMHO that is a bit different as you have what once were known brands who fizzled out without much of a peep.

All the small players are ether disappearing or being gobbled up by the big players.

Asus has split into three sections now and are looking at taking on the likes of Foxconn (Leadtek are part of that conglomorate) in certain areas.

Bottom line is that your current gear is obsolete (as is my s939) and you have to accept that within a year of purchase it's of date and that it you'll likely get no updates.
If you go with a small manufacturer you may even find (as you have) that they're gone.

'Future-proof' is a joke.

Try getting recent ULi drivers for example now nVidia have them...

 

[AmberClad]

Originally posted by: FireTech
Asus has split into three sections now and are looking at taking on the likes of Foxconn (Leadtek are part of that conglomorate) in certain areas.

Leadtek got eaten by Foxconn? I wasn't aware of that. It does make sense now -- I remember wondering about Foxconn blatantly stealing Leadtek's WinFast branding and using it on their own boards for a while.

 

[bozack]

Originally posted by: FireTech
Apologies, I thought you might have had a sense of humour...

Asus has split into three sections now and are looking at taking on the likes of Foxconn (Leadtek are part of that conglomorate) in certain areas.

Bottom line is that your current gear is obsolete (as is my s939) and you have to accept that within a year of purchase it's of date and that it you'll likely get no updates.
If you go with a small manufacturer you may even find (as you have) that they're gone.

'Future-proof' is a joke.

Try getting recent ULi drivers for example now nVidia have them...

I really didn't want my post to come off seemingly like me bitching that my stuff is out of date as that really wasn't my intent, heck my gear was outdated when I bought it as I typically buy older stuff, that and what I don't buy I get for free...so my equipment being eol'd means nothing to me and I don't care much for future proofing with tech gear, be it computers or anything that is electronic.

Yeah a few more bios updates on my board would have been nice, or the ability to ask tech support a question on if a video card is compatable or something...but whatever.

However the meat of my angst is that I find these companies that I like, typically ones that offer good value/dollar and gear their product to the enthusiasts, and time after time they either get wiped off the map or they get sucked up by the big boys and I am stuck with finding new companies I have never heard of and doing the research all over again.

There are tons of non computer examples I can think of, Bose instantly comes to mind with their Wave radios and overpriced ripoff ipod docks, I loved my choice in Athena but alas a good product means nothing these days, it is all about marketing and the bottom line.

I always had hoped enthusiast computer gear was the last holdout where this sort of thing didn't happen...I remember 3dfx getting their ass kicked when they were the major player because their technology sucked, same thing with Intel for a short period of time. But now it seems like everything else it isn't the case.

There was a great article I read after I posted this written by someone who worked for Epox that spoke of the Celeronfication of the industry and it really turned my stomach...oh well my bitching does nothing, just gotta suck it up and move on..

Seems like Foxconn is becomming the massive conglomerate and wiping out all of these companies...just like Zales is really a massive jeweler that owns tons of high end names or like companies like Red Lobster own high end overpriced joints like Seasons 52. Makes one feel kinda dirty spending money one what you percieve to be a good name only to find the stuff was made by foxconn or whomever.

But was curious as to what other companies went the way of the dodo out of curiosity.

 

[hclarkjr]

who bought abit out?

 

[nyker96]

The funny thing amongst this is Foxxconn is now the largest mb maker. I'd never think to see this company to be the largest. The only stuff they ever made were low end things. There gotta be some other mb maker taking over the #1 spot soon, or I'd go nuts!

 

[nyker96]

The funny thing amongst this is Foxxconn is now the largest mb maker. I'd never think to see this company to be the largest. The only stuff they ever made were low end things. I like Epox though too bad about them. There gotta be some other mb maker taking over the #1 spot soon, or I'd go nuts!

 

[Zap]

Jetway still has some boards for modern platforms for sale on Newegg, especially mATX boards for socket AM2. But yeah, they're getting pretty big in the mini ITX scene.

Shuttle was another one that left the motherboard business and only makes SFFs.

Chaintech is now something like Walton Chaintech, maybe doing RAM or something.

Soyo makes consumer electronics and monitors (after ripping people off with rebates on their final motherboards).

Abit was bought out by Universal (???) and is now Universal abit (IIRC lowercase "a").

EPoX is now named SUPoX or something.

I guess Soltek was so small that I didn't hear about them disappearing. I remember owning one of their 845D chipset boards with an automatic BIOS overclocking feature that found the top overclock like the stuff in Nvidia drivers.

Leadtek/Foxconn... yeah, makes sense to me too now that you guys/gals point it out.

Originally posted by: bozack
'Future-proof' is a joke.

Been trying to tell that to people for years, but I guess they use it to justify their purchases.

Originally posted by: bozack
However the meat of my angst is that I find these companies that I like, typically ones that offer good value/dollar and gear their product to the enthusiasts, and time after time they either get wiped off the map or they get sucked up by the big boys and I am stuck with finding new companies I have never heard of and doing the research all over again.

Yeah, they offer so good value that they don't make enough money. Plus, enthusiasts are probably most likely to return something due to breaking it or not being enough of an enthusiast to know how to make it work, and returns eat profit like crazy.

Originally posted by: bozack
Seems like Foxconn is becomming the massive conglomerate and wiping out all of these companies...

They always have been a massive conglomerate. Look in any old PC and you'll see "Foxconn" on the ZIF socket. A new Dell Vostro 200 in my garage has a Foxconn G33M motherboard. Foxconn makes iPods for Apple.

I used to also keep track of the "real" motherboard manufacturers. Not all "manufacturers" manufactured their own boards (or all of their boards). For instance before Abit was bought out, I think their more budget boards were made by ECS. Some Epox and Shuttle boards were also ECS. The companies would spec designs and develop their own BIOSes.

This is kind of like how many PSU "manufacturers" don't actually have any manufacturing facilities. Corsair units are Seasonic and Topower. Antec are FSP, Seasonic and Enhance. The first BFG 600W was ATNG. List goes on and on.

Or maybe this is all my imagination.

 

[AmberClad]

Originally posted by: nyker96
There gotta be some other mb maker taking over the #1 spot soon, or I'd go nuts!

There was that rumored merger/joint-venture between ASUS and Gigabyte about a year ago. I don't know why it fell though.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Anyone remember Tomatoboard?

At least Biostar is still around, and going strong. They didn't use to be very good mobos, but they've gotten much better.

 

[bozack]

Originally posted by: Zap
They always have been a massive conglomerate. Look in any old PC and you'll see "Foxconn" on the ZIF socket. A new Dell Vostro 200 in my garage has a Foxconn G33M motherboard. Foxconn makes iPods for Apple.

Not doubting this at all, OEM suppliers always seem to dominate, just figured the computer enthusiast niche would be a little unique in this regard, specifically brands that truly catered to their base, when in reality it seems that isn't the case and the enthusiast companies are just as suceptable to getting wiped out as they are in any industry.

 

[Heidfirst]

As mobos have become more & more integrated & the components have got better & better then the performance differences between mobos from different manufacturers based upon the same components have got smaller & smaller.
As such it's become more & more about cost of production & hence economies of scale.
DFI seem to be trying to go against the flow with their enthusiasts mobos but the small nos. means notably higher prices for little performance improvement & I do wonder how profitable/sustainable it is.

btw I don't think that Leadtek is a Foxconn company - afaik it's publicly listed.
Certainly Foxconn bought the rights to use the Winfast brand for mobos & I believe did/does the actual manufacturing for Leadtek but I don't believe that they own it.

 

[Zap]

Originally posted by: VirtualLarry
Anyone remember Tomatoboard?

WTF?!?!?

Anyone remember Azza? Used to use their boards BITD for system builds. Is QDI still around? I think they even predated Abit with BIOS controlled clock speeds. What about Amptron? Those were some crappy boards.

Originally posted by: bozack
Not doubting this at all, OEM suppliers always seem to dominate, just figured the computer enthusiast niche would be a little unique in this regard, specifically brands that truly catered to their base, when in reality it seems that isn't the case and the enthusiast companies are just as suceptable to getting wiped out as they are in any industry.

Not only that, but more susceptible. Big OEM suppliers have the stability of constant orders and simplicity of products and RMAs.

Companies that cater towards enthusiasts have to deal with RMAs which is a real bottom line killer. Additionally, they survive based on popularity and pushing limits, and if something happens to that then their business can dry up. Abit and DFI had some of these problems.

 

[tcsenter]

Originally posted by: AmberClad
Leadtek got eaten by Foxconn? I wasn't aware of that. It does make sense now -- I remember wondering about Foxconn blatantly stealing Leadtek's WinFast branding and using it on their own boards for a while.

Foxconn didn't acquire Leadtek, Foxconn acquired the rights to the WinFast name after Leadtek exited the motherboard business. Leadtek had been getting its motherboards all along from Foxconn.

The funny thing amongst this is Foxxconn is now the largest mb maker. I'd never think to see this company to be the largest. The only stuff they ever made were low end things.

Err...Foxconn has been making Intel's motherboards for years, along with Mitac, not to mention the interface connectors and sockets on about half of all motherboards (along with AMP and Molex). Foxconn has been Taiwan's largest private company for several years now.

Foxconn (Hon Hai Precision) is also the OEM for Xbox 360, PlayStation 2 and 3, Nintendo Wii, iPod, MacBook, Mac Mini, iPhone, and a dozen or so popular cell phone lines for Motorola, Nokia, and Ericsson. We could keep going...consumer electronics, computer chassis, heatsinks, adapters, cable assemblies.

Foxconn can and has made as high or low of a quality product as its contract customer wishes (and is willing to pay for).

 

[JimiP]

Originally posted by: nyker96
The funny thing amongst this is Foxxconn is now the largest mb maker. I'd never think to see this company to be the largest. The only stuff they ever made were low end things. There gotta be some other mb maker taking over the #1 spot soon, or I'd go nuts!

Foxconn is the largest motherboard manufacturer because they deal mostly with OEM's. Many corporations such as HP, Dell, eMachines, etc use their motherboards because they have the newest chipsets that support the newest CPU's and they're cheap to manufacture.

 

[PolymerTim]

Originally posted by: bozack
However the meat of my angst is that I find these companies that I like, typically ones that offer good value/dollar and gear their product to the enthusiasts, and time after time they either get wiped off the map or they get sucked up by the big boys and I am stuck with finding new companies I have never heard of and doing the research all over again.

I hate this too, but then I've learned I have to do my homework carefully before every purchase anyway, especially if you're only upgrading every few years. A company with a great product lineup may have changed over 3-4 years. And even if a company is good, it doesn't mean that all the products in their various businesses are good. I think its best not to rely too much on a brand name.

Originally posted by: bozack
Seems like Foxconn is becomming the massive conglomerate and wiping out all of these companies...just like Zales is really a massive jeweler that owns tons of high end names or like companies like Red Lobster own high end overpriced joints like Seasons 52. Makes one feel kinda dirty spending money one what you percieve to be a good name only to find the stuff was made by foxconn or whomever.

Seems to be the way with globalization these days. Here are a couple of my favorites:

GM auto brands: Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC, Hummer, Oldsmobile, Pontiac, Saab, Saturn, and GM.

And one that really scares me is TimeWarner:
-Warner Bros.
-AOL (Mapquest)
-HBO
-Time Warner Cable
-Time Inc (People, SI, Time)
-Turner Broadcasting (CNN, TCM, etc)

That's a pretty big impact.

 

[bozack]

Originally posted by: PolymerTim
Seems to be the way with globalization these days. Here are a couple of my favorites:

GM auto brands: Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC, Hummer, Oldsmobile, Pontiac, Saab, Saturn, and GM.

And one that really scares me is TimeWarner:
-Warner Bros.
-AOL (Mapquest)
-HBO
-Time Warner Cable
-Time Inc (People, SI, Time)
-Turner Broadcasting (CNN, TCM, etc)

That's a pretty big impact.

Let me apologize, with my post one would wonder if I speak english as a second language, I just throw proper form and spelling to the wind when I get annoyed.

Polymer, I think we are on the same page, like you I have also taken to resarch everything before I buy (well within reason of course). However it kinda sucks that this happens so frequently, specifically that value for your dollar enthusiast brands get wiped off the map by those who either produce crap in bulk or those who can afford to spend more on advertising.

Seems like this is pretty common in every industry, guess I just have to get on the bus and deal with it.

 

[spikespiegal]

Asus has split into three sections now and are looking at taking on the likes of Foxconn

Good. Maybe Asus will have enough capital now to upgrade the 486 server with dual ISDN modems they've been using to host their support site.

 

[lenjack]

foxconn also makes mobos for Lenovo.

 

[AmberClad]

Originally posted by: Zap
Chaintech is now something like Walton Chaintech, maybe doing RAM or something.

Chaintech's allliiive! Looks like you were right on the money. The product name is a little awkward...brings to mind video card waterblocks.

 

[Rubycon]

I understand Epox is getting into the SFF biz and will have a SmallPOX line of boards. :laugh:

Seriously as long as the high hitters stay around (Asus, Tyan, SuperMicro, Intel) I think there's no need for alarm. There were so many manufacturers in the 90's it wasn't funny.

Foxconn seems to OEM everything. I've had a few systems with Foxconn branded boards and they were horrible until a bios came out to address issues which were the strangest PC issues I've seen.

Originally posted by: spikespiegal
Good. Maybe Asus will have enough capital now to upgrade the 486 server with dual ISDN modems they've been using to host their support site.

LOL that site is slow. Perhaps if it didn't have 1MB worth of flash crap it would be easier too! I miss the days of FTP/BBS access to grab exactly what you were looking for.