With the announcement that Via is leaving the Third Party Chipset market and amidst rumors of nVidia’s imminent departure from the chipset game we wonder if there will be a time in the very near future where we are left with two platform choices.
What would the market be like with only two chipsets?
Personally I feel it would be very stagnant and drab.
While it is true that Intel currently makes the best chipsets for its CPUs this was not always the case. Likewise for AMD, where the nForce 4 was the chipset of choice for the s939 AMD cpus.
Another worry (as I have mentioned) should this come to pass it leave nVidia’s multi GPU platform out in the cold unless it can fix the NV200 or work a deal with Intel and AMD.
We can only hope that someone will fill the void left by Via (and possibly nVidia) with good solid chipsets for both of these CPUs otherwise we are looking a very boring, two-sided fight in the mainboard chipset market.