Asustek CEO Jerry Shen revealed his company will be unable to meet its target of 25 million motherboard shipments in 2012. The company recently adjusted its target to only 22.2 million units, down from 23.2 million shipped in 2011. To blame is weak demand in Europe and the US, as well as weaker-than-expected shipment growth in China.
For the fourth quarter, Asustek expects its shipments to reach 5.5 million units, down 5% sequentially, but stay flat on year.
Meanwhile, Gigabyte shipped 14 million motherboards in the first three quarters of 2012 and is expected to ship 4.5 million units in the fourth quarter, helping the company's annual shipments to reach 18.5 million units, up slightly from those of 2011.
As for other smaller brands, although ASRock is unlikely to achieve its original goal of nine million units, but will still ship more than seven million units in 2012.
Fierce competition between Asustek and Gigabyte also seriously impacted smaller motherboard makers, and Shen believes that there will only be three major motherboard players left in 2013.
