According to DigiTimes, the Intel's 1333MHz FSB (front side bus) patent
license renewal still not yet settled and
VIA has
decided to shift focus from chipsets for third-party processors to chipsets for
its own C7 line of CPUs. The company will invest more resources in platforms
for "multimedia control, commercial embedded (thin clients, industrial PCs and
point of sale terminals), home multimedia and mobile embedded (ultra-mobile
devices, set-top boxes, LCD TVs and car electronics)" systems, DigiTimes'
sources claim. VIA's existing license to make chipsets for Intel CPUs expires on
April 7, 2008, so the move might forebode an eventual pullout from the Intel
chipset world.
