|
|
VIA quits motherboard chipset business
VIA is now focusing on x86 processors and the integrated motherboard market, rather than chipsets for third-party CPUs
Previously one of the best chipset makers for enthusiasts looking for high performance on a budget, VIA has told Custom PC that it now sees no future in making chipsets for third parties such as Intel and AMD.
Speaking to Custom PC, VIA’s vice president of corporate marketing in Taiwan, Richard Brown, explained that: ‘One of the main reasons we originally moved into the x86 processor business was because we believed that ultimately the third party chipset market would disappear, and we would need to have the capability to provide a complete platform.’
‘That has indeed come to pass,’ said Brown. He also added that ‘Intel provides the vast majority of chipsets for its processors and, following its purchase of ATI, AMD is also moving very quickly in the same direction.’
Rumours about VIA quitting the chipset business started to surface towards the end of last year, when DigiTimes alleged that the former president and general manager of VIA’s platform business, Chewei Lin, planned to resign and take 40 VIA chipset technicians over to ASMedia, a subsidiary of Asustek.
VIA’s previously had a rocky relationship with Intel over its third-party chipsets. Back in 2001, VIA released the Apollo P4X266 chipset, which brought DDR memory support to the Pentium 4, despite not having a license from Intel. To avoid the wrath of Intel, motherboard makers produced boards based on the chipset using VIA’s name rather than their own brands.
We asked Brown if VIA’s relationship with Intel had recovered since then, and he replied: ‘The only way I can answer that is to say that VIA and Intel are direct competitors in a very tough market. Having said that, we do have a great deal of respect for Intel not just as a competitor but also for the huge contribution they have made in driving the development of the PC industry.‘
Has VIA made the right decision, or is there still a place for third-party chipset manufacturers in the business? What's more, where does this leave other chipset makers such as SiS? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
Look out for a full interview with VIA next week, where we discuss Nano, multi-core CPUs and VIA’s cooperation with Nvidia.
Reddit | Technorati
VIA has always has a good rep, re: lack of H/W failures. AND they tell the straight truth about exiting the chipset business, while Nvidia publicly denied this. ..................................................................................... Also, let us not forget that millions of people are suffering from Nvidia integrated graphic chipset failures (or pending failures), and are getting the run-around from HP, Dell, etc. about installing a bios update to allow the mGPU to limp along until the warranty, and the chip, expires. There are also rumors of Nvidia desktop GPU problems (but Nvidia is not making a peep about this). ......................................................................................... I am *lucky* enough to own one of these machines, with a Geforce GO6150 (which Nvidia doesn't say is affected, BUT HP IS listing it as affected on their site, go figure). After this treatment, I will certainly look forward to buying a reliable VIA netbook to replace this defective unit, and will certainly avoid HP and Nvidia products in the future.
Comment by dsuse at 4:51am 12th August 2008
While Intel is gearing up to serve the next two three billion Internet users, most of whom will be much poorer than today's mainstream PC users, Via drops out of the chipset business. Via should continue profitably making low-cost chipsets for today's low-end products -- Pentium 4 and Core. These processors will be sold into entry-level products in emerging markets for years.
Comment by Catalina588 at 2:35pm 11th August 2008
This is a kick in the nuts, I liked VIA, Performance was great but I can see where there coming from. ATI, Intel, AMD all providing there own chipsets and saturating the market with them.
Comment by hideki at 1:46pm 11th August 2008
come on VIA, just put in an extra LAN connector, and im happy. nothin better than a tiny game server for lan. -- especially if its like that one they made that fits into 5.1/4"
Comment by thegreat0mi at 8:58am 11th August 2008
Have gone for the little niche in the market producing cpu's and tiny m/b's for people other than us hardcore gamers and enthusiasts. Onboard computers and similar are the areas i think via should look to develop a bit!
Comment by Lightning_Pete at 10:42am 9th August 2008
I'll be happy when I see some VIA Nano's available on uATX or ATX motherboards. By sticking to ITX only VIA are limiting their market.
Comment by l3v1ck at 7:48am 9th August 2008
VIA seems to be coming in to the playing fields at a bit of a late time, and if they dont do something quick then I think that they will just end up failing... I hope for VIAs sake that Nvidia hold up their end of the bargain and develop some great products to go along side VIAs products, maybe Nvidia will save VIA, But only if something special comes out of the VIA offices soon!... Come on VIA give us some competition, at the moment it just feels like England vs America which would obviously end up as 20-0 to england!!
Comment by NikoBellic at 12:22am 9th August 2008
When will VIA's PR people get off their arses and send CPC a Nano CPU to review?
Comment by l3v1ck at 6:04pm 8th August 2008
ive had sum good via boards that were on a par or faster than the nforce or intel boards that ive had and they were v cheap but if nano is any good it cud be a good move
Comment by damafia at 5:23pm 8th August 2008
With VIA and nVidia gone, choices are getting limited...
Comment by IanYates at 5:20pm 8th August 2008
Make a Comment
- Play Crysis Wars for free
- Over-volted RAM will damage Core i7 CPUs
- Developers hit out at EA after dropping Command & Conquer FPS
- PC gaming ‘in tatters’ says Peter Molyneux
- Asus X58 Rampage II Extreme pictured
- Leadtek demos Cell chip on a PCI-E card
- Rumour control: Windows 7 expected in 2009, says AMD
- Valve: PC graphics have topped out
- AMD launches Radeon HD 4550 and 4350
- Epic: hardware savvy PC gamers more likely to pirate
These are the most popular news articles over the past seven days.
- Leadtek demos Cell chip on a PCI-E card
- Valve: PC graphics have topped out
- Asus X58 Rampage II Extreme pictured
- Rumour control: Windows 7 expected in 2009, says AMD
- PC gaming ‘in tatters’ says Peter Molyneux
- Developers hit out at EA after dropping Command & Conquer FPS
- Over-volted RAM will damage Core i7 CPUs
- Play Crysis Wars for free
Broadband Dongles
Fastest, cheapest 3G mobile broadband dongles from 3, Vodafone, T-Mobile and Orange
from just £10/month
