Is Abit getting ready to make a planned retreat out of the motherboard market? It's no secret that the company hasn't been performing as well as they wish in selling motherboards, with less than 3 million sold last year while still having a goal to sell twice that many this year. They aren't on track to do that, which leads a little credence to rumors that they are planning to phase out of the market soon, sometime after the launch of Intel's 4-series chipsets.
The parent company of Abit, USI, is apparently disappointed with them. Not to say they couldn't make a comeback, as anyone who has been building PCs for the past 10 years can probably remember a few times when Abit surprised the world with boards released with little fanfare that ended up being immensely popular, such as the BH6, BP6 and VP6. With stiff competition in the form of companies like Asus and DFI, though, it's unlikely they will wow the world. I personally hope that Abit eventually denies these rumors and continues to develop motherboards.