Re: The workstation market might be small but it churns.
"The workstation market might be small but it churns. Workstations typically get replaced annually whereas typical desktops might be used for years on end."
You really need to present some evidence for that because that's not what I see in the real world (and I spend a lot of time in that part of the market). Hardly anyone replaces workstations annually, because it would be an idiotic move, considering the fact that there are no new/better components every year (the average time between XEON CPU and Quadro GPU generations is closer to 3+ years), plus the components still need to be certified by the ISV.
Out here in the real world, workstations actually see much longer use than desktop PCs, and often only get replaced when the application running on them is replaced, which is more like 4 to 7 years later.
In terms of volume, the workstation market is a niche market that is shrinking by the day, mostly because more and more workloads are shifted onto servers or the cloud, where they can share resources like GPUs. The rest is increasingly dominated by mobile workstations (laptops). Actual high-end machines (like dual CPU HP z8 G4) are like a drop in the ocean in terms of volume sold, compared to other parts of the PC market such as business PCs or consumer PCs.
In any case, the idea that a vendor like intel who already struggles to make it with its discrete GPUs in the consumer market which is quite forgiving to become successful in the workstation segment where stable drivers and ISV certifications are key is preposterous. Just ask AMD, which has been struggling in that market for like forever because when it comes to GPGPU workloads CUDA is king and that means Nvidia (and the rest is often well served with any kind of entry-level or mid-range GPU, like many CAD workstations are). And unlike intel, AMD actually has some good products with stable drivers right now.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
