Gigabyte motherboard shipments down 50% since 2013

Gigabyte is one of the top-tier motherboard makers but the last couple of years the industry got hit by significant drops in demand. This year, the Taiwanese firm is expected to sell under 10 million motherboards, a far cry from the 20 million units peak is achieved in 2013. In particular, the firm is hard hit by an abrupt collapse in demand for mining motherboards.

The firm's motherboard shipments are estimated to fall at least one million units on year to five million units in the first half of 2018, and it will have to work hard to maintain the year's total shipments above the 10 million level, the industry sources said. They reasoned that the firm's restructured motherboard division has yet to get on the track of smooth operation, and that overall global demand for motherboards remains on the decline despite slight increase from the gaming sector.

The overall motherboard market saw units sales drop 15 percent in 2017 and is expected to fall another 10 percent this year. Some firms are doing better than others though. ASUS for example is expected to ship 16.5 million motherboards this year, the same number as 2017.

MSI is also bucking the trend and is expected to sell 6 million motherboards this year with higher average selling prices (ASP). If things keep going the way they are, MSI may become the world's second-largest motherboard maker by 2020. Up until a couple of years ago, Gigabyte was nearly as large as ASUS in terms of unit shipments.

Via: DigiTimes