Last week Intel stopped selling AnyPoint products, namely network cards and other equipment for small home and office wireless networks. According to the company official, the release of Microsoft Windows XP ruined the marketing attractiveness of all AnyPoint products, which major advantage were simple configuring options and installation. However, Microsoft software developers taught Windows XP to automatically find and set wireless network connections with any equipment. Therefore, the users start taking the pricing issue as the main determinative, which definitely makes purchasing AnyPoint solutions absolutely unreasonable.

As for AnyPoint II 802.11b, introduced by Intel last summer, it has never started selling at all.

Intel has already left several markets lately. The company terminated the production of digital cameras and computer toys such as electronic microscopes. However, the discontinuance of AnyPoint family doesn’t at all imply that the company is about to leave the network market. Although Intel’s revenues here were coming down and now make only 0.5%, Intel still hopes to resume the successful work of this division.

Now that there will be no AnyPoint products, Intel is planning to focus on the new PRO/Wireless 802.11 family. It will include 802.11a and 802.11b network cards, access points, and other equipment such as network adapters, etc.