That should clear up some confusion for Supermicro purchasers.
I did speak to an Intel representative at a roadshow late last week, and he indicated that it was up to the vendor, Supermicro in this case, to push through drivers, which struck me as odd. Usually, in my experience, it's the manufacturer that produces the drivers, and the vendor simply redistributes them, sometimes with a few little tweaks for their specific hardware or a repackage into their own branded installer.
From what I understand, the existing Linux drivers are compatible with ESXi, but may need a mild massage and a recompile, and of course put into VIB format. That all seems like a pretty small thing for Intel to do to reach an audience that is clamoring to get their latest processor offering. Hopefully your contact and Intel can provide some insight and maybe produce a little shove on the VMWare community's behalf.