Chip maker Intel Corp has decided to ramp up its production of desktop motherboards in the next three years to focus on the upcoming market.
Intel Corp, which has been part of the PC motherboard business for the past 20 years, will stop the production of desktop motherboards after the release of its next generation CPU chips codenamed "Haswell", the company spokesperson Dan Snyder told PCWorld.
It was said that the company will continue to extend its support to all products sold through warranties.The company will now shift its focus to tablets and smartphones.
"Separately, we started production on our next generation micro-architecture product, code-named Haswell, which we expect to qualify for sale in the first quarter," said Stacy J. Smith, Intel's senior vice president and chief financial officer.
Intel had reported fourth quarter revenue of $13.5 billion last week which is down by three percent compared to the previous year.
"Fourth quarter revenue of $13.5B was down 3% year over year.Relative to historical seasonal growthin the fourth quarter, revenue was impacted by softness in PC demand and continued reduction of inventories across the supply chain as OEMs reduce inventory on older generation products. Gross margin dropped from the third quarter to 58%," Intel said.
Other chip makers like Asus and Gigabyte will continue production of PC motherboards.
"Intel expects the broad and capable [desktop] motherboard ecosystem...Asus, Gigabyte, MSI and many others...to fully support Intel's growing roadmap and large worldwide customer base," Intel said as quoted by CNet.
