Taiwanese motherboard makers expect the growth in shipments caused by the launch of Microsoft's new Windows Vista operating system will be rather small. They expect demand won't really pickup until the second half of this year:
Though the market predicts that Vista will boost motherboard sales in the first quarter, motherboard makers say the expected on quarter-growth is a reflection of unusually slow sales in the fourth quarter of 2006, according to the paper. The motherboard makers also stated that the effect from Vista will increase within the next few years, but is likely not to be obvious until the second half of 2007, noted the paper.