In a sign of the changing PC landscape following the arrival of the Apple iPad, Intel has outlined plans to ramp down its production of desktop motherboards, reports Anandtech. The arrival of the next-generation Intel Haswell platform will be the last series where Intel will develop desktop motherboards to complement its own line of chips. It will retire its own designs, but will still develop desktop CPUs for third party vendors, including ASUS, MSI, ASRock and Gigabyte, who will continue to carry the torch.
With the market shifting to more compact form factor PC devices including ultrabooks, tablets and hybrids, Intel will instead focus its energy on developing reference designs for ultrabooks and tablets. It does not generate significant profit from its desktop motherboard line, a