"Acquisition of Intel's NUC product range makes a great sense for ASUS, which has been losing market share in the recent years as it tried to focus on profitability."
Hopefully, that's not Intel transferring cargo onto a sinking ship, If nothing else, the form factor is non-exclusive to ASUS so even if said lack of profitability is impactful, it won't axe the reasonably sized NUC systems entirely from the market. (Not personally concerned about the bloated, oversized NUCs Intel has diversified into lately though I'm sure someone will get their panties in a wad over how wonderful they are compared to literally any small form factor PC - that's just a nerd thing I guess.)
I think the main issue with Intel branded NUCs, were that they were quite expensive when compared to what Beelink, minisforum, lenovo, Asus, etc. offered.
NUCs were needlessly overdesigned. For instance, Intel NUCs used sand cast metal enclosures and thick sheet metal for the bottom cover. This was done even on their lowest end Atom NUCs.
Everyone else uses plastic and thin sheet metal for their enclosures.
You might, but almost no one else would. The bulk of buyers may or may not check out basics such as CPU model and memory, then buys the cheapest that meets their needs. Intel did not market their NUCs as rugged or extra-durable, so use of unnecessary material is overengineering indeed.
It's more like $50~70 extra for the customer when compared to NUC-likes with similar configurations. That's not cheap. You can get more RAM or larger SSD for that kind of price difference.
Is Intel selling Asus the "Intel NUC" line of products or the entire NUC business? Do other NUC makers now buy NUC MB from Asus or Intel? The article says nonexclusive future license so Intel is keeping the NUC trademark/IP?
AFAIK, it's the entire "NUC" brand. Other makers can still sell mini-PCs without any royalties to Asus/NUC, so long as they don't use the "NUC" brand name. Which is why other companies have different branding. The end users refer to these as NUC-like, NUC-clone, mini-PCs, SFF, NUC, etc.
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PeachNCream - Tuesday, September 5, 2023 - link
"Acquisition of Intel's NUC product range makes a great sense for ASUS, which has been losing market share in the recent years as it tried to focus on profitability."Hopefully, that's not Intel transferring cargo onto a sinking ship, If nothing else, the form factor is non-exclusive to ASUS so even if said lack of profitability is impactful, it won't axe the reasonably sized NUC systems entirely from the market. (Not personally concerned about the bloated, oversized NUCs Intel has diversified into lately though I'm sure someone will get their panties in a wad over how wonderful they are compared to literally any small form factor PC - that's just a nerd thing I guess.)
meacupla - Tuesday, September 5, 2023 - link
I think the main issue with Intel branded NUCs, were that they were quite expensive when compared to what Beelink, minisforum, lenovo, Asus, etc. offered.NUCs were needlessly overdesigned. For instance, Intel NUCs used sand cast metal enclosures and thick sheet metal for the bottom cover. This was done even on their lowest end Atom NUCs.
Everyone else uses plastic and thin sheet metal for their enclosures.
Duwelon - Tuesday, September 5, 2023 - link
Over a million units, what's the real cost per unit, $20 more than plastic? i'd pay that any day.Sivar - Tuesday, September 5, 2023 - link
You might, but almost no one else would. The bulk of buyers may or may not check out basics such as CPU model and memory, then buys the cheapest that meets their needs. Intel did not market their NUCs as rugged or extra-durable, so use of unnecessary material is overengineering indeed.blwest1978 - Monday, September 11, 2023 - link
I would say you're reaching on that and inferring your desires as others. Not everyone wants to participate in "gimme more" cheap garbage.meacupla - Tuesday, September 5, 2023 - link
It's more like $50~70 extra for the customer when compared to NUC-likes with similar configurations.That's not cheap. You can get more RAM or larger SSD for that kind of price difference.
DJinCA - Tuesday, September 5, 2023 - link
I'm hoping this will be similar to the IBM ThinkPad going to Lenovo.Spede - Tuesday, September 5, 2023 - link
I seriously hope you're joking 🙄blwest1978 - Monday, September 11, 2023 - link
Asus took over, that ship has already sailed. RIP NUC.wr3zzz - Wednesday, September 6, 2023 - link
Is Intel selling Asus the "Intel NUC" line of products or the entire NUC business? Do other NUC makers now buy NUC MB from Asus or Intel? The article says nonexclusive future license so Intel is keeping the NUC trademark/IP?meacupla - Wednesday, September 6, 2023 - link
AFAIK, it's the entire "NUC" brand.Other makers can still sell mini-PCs without any royalties to Asus/NUC, so long as they don't use the "NUC" brand name.
Which is why other companies have different branding.
The end users refer to these as NUC-like, NUC-clone, mini-PCs, SFF, NUC, etc.
boozed - Wednesday, September 6, 2023 - link
Someone suggested these should now be known as the Former Unit of Computing