Heads up DIYers, supply of Intel circuit boards may dry up
If a report from Asia is accurate, Intel motherboards will become a scarce commodity when Intel's next-generation Haswell chip launches in June.
Intel desktop circuit boards may begin to get scarce.
The chipmaker cut back on motherboard orders by 80 percent to only 100,000 units, claims an Asia-based Digitimes report, citing sources in the "supply chain."
A person familiar with Intel's motherboard business contacted by CNET could not confirm whether the 80 percent figure was accurate but said the general thrust of the report was correct, as Intel announced in January that it was winding down the desktop motherboard business.
"We disclosed internally...that Intel's desktop motherboard business will begin slowly ramping down over the course of the next three years," Intel said at the time, as it focuses resources on mobile products.
The Digitimes story claims that Intel is winding down the business at a faster pace than expected.
The end of board development will come with Intel's upcoming "Haswell" chip generation, due to launch in June, Intel said in January.
A quick glance at Intel motherboard inventory at online retailers like Newegg show plenty of stock. So, there doesn't appear to be any shortage -- at the moment -- of boards at the retail level.
And there are other large motherboard makers more than able to fill the void, including Asus, MSI, and Gigabyte.
Intel declined to comment.
