If your target is mobile or embedded, yes. Fortunately, that's not the only use case. Software codecs are a lot more interesting from the standpoint of not being fixed function.
In the end I'm using a core i3-5010U based box, that runs well enough... but would really love to see something almost as powerful, but lower power use and better supported. On the one hand, I want a stable flexible system... on the other I want to have the ability to tinker.
It seems a lot of times vendor interests are at odds with a tinkering consumer.
On the same note, been thinking that something akin to Kodi/XBMC that has a control interface that's web based and works on mobile devices, combined with an output interface that can render to something like a google chromecast would be awesome. It could run on a desktop, in another room, and simply display on the TV, or multiple TVs for that matter.
Looking at some of the streaming gaming options from nVidia and Steam, I'm hoping to see this become a home media option that actually works nicely in the future.
Which are two of the most critical properties of a codec. When people look at the battery life of a new platform, one of the common questions is "how many hours of continuous video playback?". Or "how many hours of screen-off audio playback?".