For years we have been seeing how Intel NUCs have less and less relevance, now Intel has decided to close this business sector and give them to third parties.
With this move, the “direct investment” in its Next Unit of Compute (NUC) business ceases completely. As we already know first-hand, there are plenty of cheaper and more flexible alternatives to Intel NUCs. Brands such as Beelink have been producing mini PCs at much lower prices for years now, and AMD APUs with their much more powerful GPUs have taken a lot of the spotlight away from Intel processors.
Goodbye, Intel NUC
Currently, Intel currently offers three types of systems: the classic compact NUCs aimed at consumers and home offices, the vPro aimed at businesses and corporations with support for features such as remote management and finally the high-performance Extreme machines for gamers with the skull logo.
Intel’s official response to our request is as follows for Tom’s Hardware:
We have decided to stop direct investment in the Next Unit of Compute (NUC) business and pivot our strategy to enable our ecosystem partners to continue to innovate and grow NUC,” reads a statement from Intel. “This decision will not affect Intel’s other Client Computing Group (CCG) or Network and Edge Computing (NEX) businesses. In addition, we are working with our partners and customers to ensure a smooth transition and fulfillment of all of our current commitments – including continued support for NUC products currently in the market.
Intel NUC and its legacy
With this move, Intel is leaving the industry, but admittedly it has left behind a very interesting legacy. Thanks to its initial designs it gave the green light to mini PCs as we still know them today. As it is logical, these large corporations do not invest in businesses where they can only make minimal profits, the sector already has other manufacturers with margins more in line with humbler expectations.
- Today we have great mini-PCs at lower prices that continue the legacy of the Intel NUC.
