Motherboard prices facing 10% rise by Q2 2012

Industry sources told DigiTimes that motherboard vendors, including Asustek and Gigabyte, plan to rise motherboard prices by about 10 percent by the end of the quarter. The price hike follows rising copper prices and higher labor costs in China.

Copper pricing has risen from less than US$8,000 per metric ton (MT) before the 2012 Lunar New Year to US$8,600/MT currently, causing hikes in the cost of CCLs (copper-clad laminates) and in turn production cost of motherboards, the sources noted.

As for labor costs in China, the minimum monthly wage in Beijing was hiked by 8.62% from CNY1,160 (US$184) to CNY1,260 on January 1, 2012. Shanghai will raise wages 14.28% from CNY1,120 to CNY1,280 on April 1, and Shenzhen raised wages 13.63% from CNY1,320 to CNY1,500 on February 1, the sources indicated.

Motherboard prices were increased by 3-8 percent in April 2011 due to rising component prices following the earthquake in Japan, and 5-10 percent in early 2011 due to rising material costs and labor shortages.