Universal abit

Infobox_Company
company_name = Universal abit
Universal ABIT Co., Ltd
company_
company_type = Subsidiary of Universal Scientific Industrial
foundation = 1989
defunct = 2008
location_city = flagicon|Taiwan Neihu
location_country = Taiwan
key_people = Thore Welling, Marketing Director
industry = Computer hardware
Electronics
products = Motherboards, graphics cards, Small form factor, Wifi
market c

revenue =
operating_income =
net_income =
num_employees =
homepage = [http://www.abit.com.tw/ www.abit.com.tw/]

Universal abit (formerly ABIT) is a 2nd Tier motherboard manufacturer & computer components manufacturer, based in Taiwan, active since the late 1980s. Their core product line is motherboards aimed at the overclocker market. Abit experienced serious financial problems in 2005. The brand name 'ABIT' and other intangible properties, including patents and trademarks, were purchased by Universal Scientific Industrial Co., Ltd. (USI) in May 2006.

Corporate information

History

ABIT was founded in 1989. In 1991, they had become the fastest growing motherboard manufacturer, exceeding US$10,000,000 in sales. In 2000, ABIT underwent an IPO on the TAIEX stock exchange. To keep pace with their "good" sales figures, they opened up a state-of-the-art factory in Suzhou, China, and moved to new headquarters in Neihu, Taipei. The number of motherboards sold was claimedcitequote to have doubled between 2000 and 2001.

On December 15, 2004, the Taiwan Stock Exchange downgraded ABIT's stock due to questionable accounting practices. Investigations revealed that the majority of their import/export business was conducted through seven companies, all located at the same address and had a capital of only HK$2 each. This made it easy to inflate the reported number of motherboards sold. The Hong Kong media also reports that the management is being investigated for embezzling funds from the company.

In June 2005, ABIT partnered with Wan Hai Industries. This container shipping company, also a principal investor in China Airlines, brought the company much needed capital. [cite web|url=http://www.anandtech.com/tradeshows/showdoc.aspx?i=2443&p=6|title=Computex 2005 - Looking Ahead|title= Wesley Fink|publiser=AnandTech.com|date=2005-06-10|accessdate=2008-09-01]

On January 25, 2006, ABIT announced that USI intended to purchase ABIT Computer's motherboard business and brand and announced a special shareholders meeting to discuss the sale of ABIT's Neihu building, changing ABIT's company name, the disposition of the company's assets, and the release of the directors from non-competition restrictions. ABIT sold its own office building in Taipei to Deutsche Bank in order to raise money to cut its debt.

Following USI's acquisition of the motherboard business, the remaining divisions of ABIT switched to distributing components and networking products, while using its Suzhou, China plant only to offer some motherboard contract manufacturing services.

The acquired motherboard business and the 'ABIT' brand name are now being used today by USI under the new brand name Universal abit. In the US, it is known as Universal abit USA Corporation. The old company, ABIT Computer Corporation (USA), is now dissolved and is no longer in existence.

By 2009, Abit will no longer sell motherboards and may focus on CE field. Warranties will still be handled by Abit for another 3 years or so.

Location

Universal abit is located in Neihu, Taiwan with regional offices in the China, USA, Iran and the Netherlands.

Technical achievements

ABIT had a reputation among PC enthusiasts for producing motherboards that support overclocking. In the late 1990s, the company introduced their "Softmenu" feature, one of the first jumperless CPU configuration systems that enable overclocking to be adjusted from the BIOS instead of fiddling with jumpers. Softmenu was later extended with the development of the "μGuru" chip. μGuru is a custom microprocessor on Abit motherboards which, in conjunction with Abit software, gives the ability to modify overclocking settings in realtime while the OS is running. By providing instant feedback on the results of a particular overclock setting, μGuru greatly reduces the time required to discover optimal settings. μGuru also provides a special connector for a panel that can be installed in a 5¼" bay which will display current speed and voltage settings. They were also one of the first motherboard manufacturers to enable undervolting.

ABIT was the first motherboard manufacturer to introduce 133 MHz FSB operation for the Intel BX chipset with the aptly named AB-BX133.Fact|date=February 2007 ABIT also achieved symmetric multiprocessing (SMP) operation for Intel's Mendocino Celeron CPU, in their BP6 motherboard. [ [http://www.abit-usa.com/products/mb/products.php?categories=1&model=109 BP6 motherboard overview] at Abit-USA.com; accessed 13 October 2006.] This was an achievement because Intel had blocked SMP operation in the Celeron.

In 2004, they introduced the OTES cooling system. This heat pipe based cooling system is intended to transfer heat from the chipset or the motherboard's voltage regulators and expel it out of the system through the rear I/O panel.

During Computex 2008, Universal abit unveiled the FunFab P80 Digital Photo Frame and Printer. It is the world's first digital photo frame with an integrated high quality photo printer which can also connect directly to a mobile phone or in other terms cellular phone.fact|date=August 2008

Technical issues

ABIT was one of the early casualties of the capacitor plague; it bought a batch of defective Taiwanese capacitors circa 2000 which caused their motherboards to fail prematurely.fact|date=August 2008 ABIT has so far been the only motherboard manufacturer to admit to using capacitors that were of a poor standard, and eventually recalled and repaired any boards from users that did fail.fact|date=August 2008 Today the company only uses high quality Japanese capacitors, notably Rubycon.fact|date=August 2008

References

* S. Chen, S. Shen. "Abit cuts debts by selling properties, but trouble remains", DigiTimes.com, 28 December 2005.
* E. Wang. "Abit reaches tentative agreement with creditor banks", DigiTimes.com, 21 January 2005.
* E. Wang. "Abit stock downgraded to requiring full delivery", DigiTimes.com, 15 December 2004.
* Abit Press Office, "Abit announced a merger with Universal Scientific Industrial Co., Ltd. (USI).", Abit.com.tw, 25 January 2006.

Notes

External links

* [http://www.abit.com.tw Official website] and [http://www.uabit.com/ US official website]
* [http://www.abit.com.tw/page/en/where2buy/where2buy.php?pFUN_KEY=16000&pTITLE_
]
* [http://forum.uabit.com/ Official ABIT support forums]
* [ftp://ftp.abit.com.tw/pub/download/ Abit FTP in Taiwan] [ftp://ftp-usa.abit.com.tw/pub/download/ USA] [ftp://ftp.abitshop.com/pub Europe] - for the most up-to-date drivers.