Intel has taken the first steps toward dissolving its PC motherboard production. If all goes according to plan, the entire division will be nonexistent by 2016.

The company told PC World today that it will cease desktop motherboard production shortly after its Haswell ultrabook motherboards start shipping and will continue to support legacy hardware. The Haswell launch itself has been bumped up a few months, ostensibly to “save” the PC as well as the company’s PC-based business.

Intel has struggled to keep pace with its competitors in the PC motherboard category. It has also had to shift much of its focus to tablet and mobile computing devices. Currently, Intel powers seven smartphone designs and is also shipping chips for x86-based tablet computers, worlds away from where its business was even one year ago.

While its most recent earnings statements showed that the PC segment hasn’t quite tanked — not yet, at least — Intel spent the majority of its time at CES focusing on its future of bargain-basement-priced ultrabooks, gestural controls, and touchscreens, touchscreens everywhere.

In addition to keeping up with new form factors, Intel said it will focus on all-in-one system designs and will continue to advise manufacturers on motherboard design. Its PC processor business is still going strong.

Even though it would be worth next-to-nothing without its historical roots, an original Apple 1 motherboard sold for an eye-popping $374,500 today at a Sotheby’s auction.

Sotheby’s believes the motherboard is one of a handful that still are in working condition. “It is thought that fewer than 50 Apple 1 Computers survive, with only 6 known to be in working condition,” Sotheby’s notes.

The motherboard, which was put together by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, in many ways represents the genesis of Apple. The motherboard includes a MOS Technologies 6502 microprocessor and 8 kilobytes of RAM. About 200 Apple 1 computers were ever produced, and Apple did not become a big name in tech until the popular Apple II machine. Other big products Jobs was significantly involved with include the Macintosh, iPod, iPhone, and iPad.

Sotheby’s large description of the product includes the following bit of detail:

When Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs presented the Apple I Computer to the Homebrew Computer Club in 1976, it was dismissed by everyone but Paul Terrell, the owner of a chain of stores called Byte Shop. Terrell ordered 50 computers for $500 a piece, insisting that the circuit boards come fully assembled rather than as DIY kits similar to the Altair, and Jobs and Woz managed to produce the requisite computers in 30 days. They continued production, immediately creating 50 additional Apple Is to sell to friends and an additional 100 to sell through vendors, at a retail price of $666.66, a number that garnered complaints among conservative Christians, but provided a lucrative 33% markup.

Let us know in the comments if you think this iconic piece of tech was worth more than $300,000.

Photo: Sotheby’s