Intel is out to accelerate the commoditisation of the notebook market, sources close to Taiwan's manufacturers have claimed.

To that end, the chip giant has recruited five key notebook OEMs - Quanta, Compal, Asustek and First International - to help it launch a scheme to encourage resellers to offer notebooks sourced direct from the manufacturers, DigiTimes reports.

Taiwan's OEMs already produce almost all of the world's notebooks, for no-name brands as well as the usual suspects. Yet over 80 per cent of notebooks sold are provided by 'name' vendors.

That's not the case in the desktop arena, where half of the machines sold come from second-tier and lesser vendors, many of whom buy in stock systems from the likes of Quanta, Compal, Asustek, First International and co., add memory and perhaps wireless options, stick on their own badge and sell the machine as their own.

That's been one of the reasons why desktops have become so much cheaper over the years, as many of them sell on price rather than brand name.

Not so the notebook market, and that's what Intel and friends apparently want to change.

Intel's motivation is to drive sales of higher margin mobile processor, particularly now while the desktop market is stagnating. For the manufacturers, success will depend on whether the margins are better on machines they build for themselves to sell as opposed kit built to the big guns' specifications and sold under their brands.

It also depends on end users coming to accept that no-name kit is as safe a purchase as a machine bought from a well-known brand. ®