2 September 2008, Universal abit today announced they will depart the competitive motherboard market. The Taiwanese technology company Universal abit, which is associated primarily with high-end and enthusiast gaming motherboards, will stop producing all mainboards at the end of 2008. It is expected that abit will honour RMAs and warranties for three years subsequently.

With recession having a detrimental effect on consumers, teh margins have become too tight for all but the largest mainboard makers to survive, with massive companies like Foxconn able to exploit extreme economies of scale.

Rumours of abit's demise from mainboards were circulating widely last May, prompting an emphatic denial from abit. It seems aparent that abit still intended to continue with mainboards at the time and that this decision was only made in the last couple of weeks.

For Universal abit, this will mark a wholesale shift towards consumer electronics devices such as the MID (mobile internet device) planned for release early next year.

Taiwanese manufacturer Universal Scientific International (USI) acquired abit in May of 2006 and officially formed Universal abit. There have been reports of defections and departures from the abit mainboard division ever since then, so there is a certain feeling of inevitability about this news. Universal abit also announced today that it is moving its Taiwan HQ to a location near to the Nangang exhibition hall in Taipei.