High Prices and Focus on AI: The Motherboard Sector Heading Towards Historic Contraction

The motherboard market is going through one of its most complicated phases in recent years. According to various rumors from the Asian supply chain, major producers expect a significant contraction in shipments amid a context characterized by high component prices, limited hardware availability, and an increasingly weak consumer demand.

A primary pressure on the sector is the ongoing increase in costs for memory, SSDs, and graphics cards, while processors are also experiencing price hikes related to the growing demand for solutions dedicated to artificial intelligence. At the same time, many companies are allocating production capacity specifically to AI products, reducing the availability of components destined for the traditional consumer market.

According to information released by DigiTimes, ASUS is looking to keep motherboard shipments above 10 million units in 2026, after reaching around 15 million over the past year. MSI and Gigabyte are also expected to scale back significantly: MSI is anticipated to drop from around 11 million to 8.4 million units, while Gigabyte is expected to decrease from 11.5 to 8.5 million. For both, this would represent a decline of approximately 25%.

The situation is even more critical for ASRock, which may see its shipments fall from 4.3 million to around 2.7 million motherboards, representing a contraction of over 30%.

The slowdown in the DIY (Do It Yourself) market, along with the aforementioned dynamics, is also linked to the users' decreasing willingness to upgrade their systems. In the gaming sector, for instance, the GPU market is experiencing a transitional phase: rumors suggest possible delays for the upcoming GeForce RTX 6000, while the RTX 5000 SUPER range is no longer a priority for NVIDIA.

Many manufacturers are reportedly trying to compensate for rising production costs by making adjustments directly to the motherboards. Sources indicate price increases ranging from 10% to 20%, sometimes accompanied by design revisions and reductions in technical specifications to control costs.

Despite the slowdown in the consumer PC market, ASUS, Gigabyte, and ASRock may maintain stable profitability thanks to the strong growth of the AI server segment. According to the Asian supply chain, dedicated infrastructure for artificial intelligence will be the main growth driver for these companies in 2026 and beyond, offsetting the decline recorded in gaming-related segments.