Asus Responds to Intel's Exit from Motherboard Business
Asus tells us what it thinks about Intel's big decision.
Intel's announcement of its departure from making motherboards after Haswell definitely changed the motherboard industry. We've reached out to all the major players for their feedback, and this is what Asus had to say:
Enthusiasts and PC builders trust ASUS as their go-to brand when it comes to building desktops. As the global leader in motherboard design across multiple product ranges, ASUS remains strongly committed to developing a wide range of new and innovative motherboards now and well into the future. For the consumer segment we have invested significant resources to grow and sustain the Build Your Own ecosystem, including the PCDIY initiative designed to educate and inspire new builders, our ongoing support for the PC gaming community, and our grassroots program for university students across North America providing support for learning through a number of vehicles. For the commercial segment we have been on the forefront with the highly acclaimed Corporate Stable Model (CSM) program in North America. ASUS motherboards have been recognized by eChannelNews with their Resellers Choice Award for Best Motherboard several years in the row. ASUS CSM motherboards covers a full range of chipsets and form factors, and come complete with a guaranteed long shelf life, advance cross shipping, and Intel vPro Technology. With the Haswell-based 4th generation Core platform we plan to deepen our commitment to bring excitement and new opportunities to the desktop platform.
ASUS will continue to expand our close partnership with Intel to fully support their growing CPU and chipset roadmap with a wide selection of motherboards that provide the highest quality and ownership value in the market. We have the utmost confidence in Intel’s continued commitment to desktop CPUs and chipsets, and eagerly look forward to leading the next generation of Build Your Own enthusiasts and system builders.
Tom's also received a statement from Gigabyte regarding Intel's departure, which can be found here.

What is going to happen to your core business line-up when Intel chips go BGA-only ?
Um, did Otellini whisper this in your ear? Please don't spread misinformation. Broadwell might skip the LGA socket but there's been little evidence to show that Haswell's the last LGA chip.
Also, BGA chips need to be soldered to something, which will most probably be a motherboard by one of the you've named.
I can't believe that the demand for enthusiast gaming rigs, professional workstations or small-scale tower servers has ceased or will cease anytime soon.
Don't get me wrong here, if Intel releases chipsets for desktop motherboards it is equally important that they also release reference designs and "best practice" guides for these chipsets. Otherwise who would be to blame for design flaws? Someone has to take responsibility for the design.
I think its a very professional response and a good move by ASUS. Sure its an add... any news article with your companies name in it is an add... whether it be good news or bad news.
Why on earth would you think that sockets will ever go away? Intel realizes if there is no more socket cpu then they will sell less cpu as I know alot of people buy a cheap cpu when building there first PC because they know down the road they will be able to buy a better cpu and sell or trade there slower cpu. Also a socket usually last a couple of years so if you buy a cpu at the begining of a socket there is a chance they will buy another cpu at the end of the sockets life cycle. Example say joe blow buys a I3 or I5 sandy cpu and said person wants a more speed so they buy a Ivy I5/I7 cpu. If this person had to buy a new cpu/motherboard they would just wait longer to upgrade as the price to performance benfit is no longer worth while so INTEL loses that sale. Also if you look at how many pc where around 15 years ago till today how can you say we are in a post pc era.... If you told me there would be this many pc today back in the 386 days I would laugh at you. We are still in the PC era and will be for many more years.
Yeah, but they need to advertise themselves as the most suitable replacement for Intel before they get to actually become one and only then can they have a crazy bitch dance on the table and break her hip.
Moreover... all the RoHS compliance requirements mean the lead-less (non-elastic) solder would result in BGA separations from any PCB they tried to attach it to. With CPU heat and silicon PCBs that are a sponge to humidity (warping of the PCBA), I cannot see how this could work.
But who knows, the sale of flux pens could go up...
What would you like them to say then? Intel boards are gone, and that's it? They're businesses, Intel left a portion of the market wide open for companies to claim customers. Those who previously purchased intel motherboards must now find another supplier, like i don't get what you would like them to say.
I like the comment about throwing a party but it isn't enough news to make it a very big party now is it? Most of the real laughter happens when Infidel releases a new "We've got it going on now!" board. The engineers at Asus and Gigabyte HAVE to laugh only moments before they blow the roof off everything Intel didn't do on their latest and greatest. Ho hum.. nap time.
Hate to loose a company from the market that has the research and engineering capability of Intel
Dry
READ, my friend.
I simply asked if ASUS, Gigabyte and MSI had anything to say about what their future plans are (however VAGUE they have been) WHEN Intel becomes BGA-only. I didn't say that "WHEN" is Haswell or Broadwell, or whatever generation. It is a well discussed possibility right now, since about the end of 2012. So far, there is no evidence for either plain continuation of LGA or complete transition to BGA, just meaningful discussions about possibilities.
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There's also the obvious motivation: the desktop PC business isn't exactly booming. Late last year word spread of Intel's plans for making Broadwell (14nm Core microprocessor in 2014) BGA-only. While we'll continue to see socketed CPUs beyond that, the cadence will be slower than what we're used to. The focus going forward will be on highly integrated designs, even for the desktop (think all-in-ones, thin mini-ITX, NUC, etc...). Couple that reality with low board margins and exiting the desktop motherboard business all of the sudden doesn't sound like a bad idea for Intel. "
From
I think this is a more appropriate interpretation than what the corporate air-heads had to spew out thus far...