ASRock will be hardest hit by the situation, with the company’s shipments projected to fall by 37%, from 4.3 million in 2025 to just 2.7 million by the end of the year. This marks a contraction of 28% for the overall motherboard market, at least for the big four manufacturers.
AI’s demand for memory, storage, and processors is the primary driver for this drop in sales. Shortages that have been caused by their massive purchases have forced PC builders and enthusiasts to fight over a smaller pie of PC components, resulting in higher overall prices for these components.
Aside from this, AMD continues to use the AM5 socket for its latest processors, while Intel's Nova Lake , which will reportedly use LGA 1954, isn’t available until later this year. The situation is further compounded by Nvidia not releasing a refreshed RTX 50 Super series this year, while rumors claim that the RTX 60 series will not debut until 2028 . This confluence of factors is discouraging PC builders from upgrading their current systems.
Despite this drop in sales, these companies aren’t exactly struggling. Asus, Gigabyte, and ASRock have pivoted some of their production towards AI servers, allowing them to capture some of the investments that hyperscalers are generously pouring into their data centers. But if you’re planning to build a completely new PC from scratch, you might be able to find good deals on motherboard combos , especially as retailers are keen on getting their inventories moving. Although these discounts might not be enough to offset the increased costs of memory, storage, and, to some extent, processors, it will at least save you a few dollars as you navigate the current chip crisis.
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Reference reading
- https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-components/motherboards/SPONSORED_LINK_URL
- https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-components/motherboards/motherboard-sales-collapse-by-more-than-25-percent-as-chipmakers-strangle-enthusiast-pc-market-to-build-more-ai-chips-asus-projected-to-sell-5-million-fewer-boards-in-2025-gigabyte-msi-and-asrock-also-expected-to-see-reduced-sales-numbers#main
- https://www.tomshardware.com
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