One Major Intel ARC Board Partner is Reportedly Opting Out
One Major Intel ARC Board Partner is Reportedly Opting Out
Things aren’t looking too great for the upcoming graphics card series as a major Intel ARC board partner has supposedly opted out. This information came from Igor Wallossek of Igor’sLAB who has confirmed this information twice recently.
While the identity of the board partner wasn’t explicitly revealed, it is possible that it might be MSI given the picture in the original report. After all, this is one of the few brands that confirmed to be producing the Intel ARC graphics cards via ads on Chinese retail sites or leaked datasheets.
At least one of the big board partners has even stopped the production of Intel cards completely (“due to quality concerns“), as I could find out yesterday and today. […] Other board partners have at least already completely capped their marketing activities, and it does not currently look as if there will be any real launch offensives from the board partners in the time window I mentioned between August 5, 2022 and September 29, 2022.
What will really arrive on the market (as retail) will be seen in the next few weeks. From the customer’s point of view, I can only hope for the best, I alone lack faith.
Igor’sLAB
There are a lot of uncertainties with regards to performance and pricing, which can be a big worry for board partners. Allegedly, Intel isn’t giving out any price guarantee, which makes planning a lot more difficult. This is most likely why we have only seen rumours of midrange graphics cards rather than high end ones, such as with ASUS TUF Gaming.
The GPU quality and performance could potentially lead to higher maintenance costs, higher RMA rates, and lesser demand for parts with unoptimized drivers. This poses plenty of risks which could be why the aforementioned board partner chose to opt out.
Pokdepinion: If this is actually the situation behind the scenes, then I wouldn’t be surprised to see more partners opting out of the Intel ARC graphic cards. Different story if they are given a particular hook that would make them stay or attract more potential partners.
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