I don't think they will phased out their Core i7 series, I think they will make it more expensive by slashing low end CPU. By doing that, you make the Core i5 more appealing and, like everyone said, mainstream.
So far, this is the only website saying that they will remove the lineup from their series, so I wouldn't count only on that website.
__________________ System | Ragnarok Case Antec 900
PSU Corsair TX750W CPU Intel Core i7 2700K 3.5GHZ Motherboard ASUS P8Z68-V
Memory Corsair Vengeance Blue 8GB 2X4GB DDR3-1600 CL9-9-9-24
Video Card MSI GeForce GTX 560 Ti Twin Frozr II
Sound Card ASUS Xonar DX |