Intel announced that it would leave the traditional desktop motherboard business. "We disclosed internally today that Intel's Desktop Motherboard Business will begin slowly ramping down over the course of the next three years," Intel said in a note to journalists today.

The decision comes as Intel devotes more resources to ultrabooks, tablets, and phones.

The end of development will come with Intel's upcoming "Haswell" chip generation, due to launch in the summer. "Intel will stop developing new Desktop boards once Haswell launch is completed," the company said.

Motherboard makers like Asus and Gigabyte are expected to continue to participate in the market and support Intel's roadmap.

Intel's words follows rumors that Intel would stop making LGA socket - processors for desktops when a future generation of processors arrive after Haswell, under the code name Broadwell.