Intel won't exit entry-level chipset market

Last week rumours stated Intel would leave the entry-level desktop market but this appear to be false. Bill Kircos, a spokesman from Intel, denied Intel will leave the low-end chipset business.

However, he did said Intel is prioritising manufacturing schedules to focus on certain types of chipsets amid capacity constraints. He denied which chipsets will be hit by the adjustments but it will likely be the lower-end ones.

Intel's chief financial officer, Andy Bryant, warned reporters and financial analysts last month that Intel might have problems with chipset supplies in the second half of the year. So far this year, PC demand has been much stronger than forecast by market researchers such as IDC and Gartner and Intel's factories were full during the second quarter, traditionally the slowest quarter for PC and chip vendors.

Intel would meet previous supply commitments with PC manufacturers, but it wouldn't be able to capitalise on all of the excess demand it was seeing, Kircos said.

More details at PCWorld