Second-tier motherboard makers hurting as ASUS and Gigabyte push prices down

ASUS and Gigabyte are putting severe pressure on second-tier motherboard makers as the big two are in a price war to maintain shipments and marketshare. DigiTimes reports companies like ASRock and MSI are expected to see 2015 shipments fall to 6.5 million units and 6 million units, respectively and ECS and Biostar 2.8-3.0 million units each.

The four second-tier motherboard makers listed above have withdrawn from the severe price competition in China but this is having a major impact on their 2015 shipments.

As for ASRock, the company previously noted that with the sharp depreciation in euro impacting demand in Europe and Intel delaying its Skylake CPUs to the third quarter, it will have a tough first half, the sources speculated.

The sources added that ASRock will only be able see flat growth in profits in 2015 since its server business has not yet made any major contribution.

MSI and ECS both have enjoyed increased profits from the notebook business in the past two years. MSI is mainly focusing on the gaming notebook business, while ECS is cooperating with Intel to supply education PCs and small form factor products.

Worldwide motherboard shipments are expected to reach 134 million units in 2015, down 8.1 percent from 2014, according to a recent report by the Market Intelligence & Consulting Institute (MIC).