XP means no point to Intel Anypoint

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XP means no point to Intel Anypoint
By ComputerWire
Posted: 02/08/2002 at 08:30 GMT



Intel Corp pulled the plug on its Anypoint consumer wireless line yesterday, bringing an end to a range that has spanned the various fashions in home wireless networks standards.

The decision came as the home wireless market becomes increasingly commoditized, and the vendor seeks to cut costs across its business.

The Santa Clara, California-based company will no longer market the products, and the team behind them will be folded into its broadband products group. No job losses are expected.

In its time, the Anypoint line supported the Home PNA, HomeRF and 802.11a and b standards. There has been speculation that the line was under pressure as more vendors pile into the burgeoning home wireless market.

A spokesman for the company said that market share was not the primary motivation behind the decision. He said that Intel's line had offered management capabilities that were less important now that Microsoft had built a large degree of wireless support into its XP operating system.

The company would continue to target the enterprise wireless market with its PRO/wireless branded line, he said. The vendor will also target its wireless components at OEMs servicing the enterprise and consumer markets.

Intel has a history of seeding new markets with own brand products, then pulling out once the market has become established, so that it concentrate on its core business of supplying silicon to OEMs.

The company has been particularly focused on non-core businesses in the wake of its second quarter results, which came in under expectations. At the time the company said it would cut around 4,000 jobs, mainly through attrition but also via "some selective disinvestments", and said it aimed to cut costs across the board by 5%.

© ComputerWire
 
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