Once again the rumor mill is churning with reports about enthusiast motherboard manufacturer Universal Abit. Reports have circulated that the company will be closing its doors for the last time on December 31st.
As many in the enthusiast community will know, Universal Abit has been a source of market departure rumors since it was acquired by Universal Scientific International (USI) in May 2006, when it ceased to operate under the brand name ABIT. Some of these rumors have come from south-east Asian distributors, who reported that Abit would stop shipment of motherboards by the end of 2008, but continue to honor warranties for another 3 years.
Just this week, Tweaktown received word that USI would dissolve Abit entirely on 31st of December. This would mean that the expected 3-year warranty period would need to be handled by USI directly, or not at all. Fortunately, after being contacted by Hardware Info, Universal Abit sales manager Fernando Benito ensured the community that, while the company will no longer produce motherboards, it will not be closing down entirely.
“ABIT will definitely continue to manufacture products, these will not be motherboards and we have not got a 100% clear picture yet on what products will be made... Products now made by USI that are not sold to OEM's will get the ABIT branding.”
Abit claims that despite the cease in motherboard production, it won't be going anywhere. But the abit that we all know will soon become only a memory, as it is shifting focus from enthusiast hardware to consumer electronics, such as the FunFab digital photo frame that was unveiled at Computex; a change that is clearly noticeable just from looking at the company's home page.
