Motherboard sales 'collapse' by more than 25% 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
Source: Tom’s Hardware
Image credit: Future, Matt Safford
Market Overview
Motherboard sales are collapsing amid unprecedented shortages driven by the rapid expansion of AI infrastructure. Over the past six months, prices for major PC components—including memory modules and storage drives—have risen sharply. Chipmakers such as Nvidia, Intel, and AMD are cutting back production of consumer chips to prioritize AI processors, further tightening supply.
The AI build‑out is also causing shortages for Intel and AMD CPUs and even high‑end Macs:
- Shortages of Intel and AMD CPUs due to AI demand
- Apple reduces Mac Studio memory capacity amid supply constraints
Because of these constraints, price‑sensitive users are postponing upgrades and extending the life of existing PCs. Motherboard manufacturers are beginning to feel the impact of delayed purchases.
Manufacturer Forecasts
According to a machine‑translated report from Digitimes1, the four major motherboard makers are revising their sales targets downward for 2026.
- Asus: Sold 15 million motherboards in 2025. In the first half of 2026, it shipped just over 5 million units. The company now aims to reach roughly 10 million units by year‑end, a 33 % year‑on‑year decline.
- Gigabyte: Sold 11.5 million motherboards in 2025. Forecast for 2026 has been cut to 9 million, a 22 % drop.
- MSI: Sold 11 million motherboards in 2025. Forecast for 2026 is 8.4 million, a 24 % contraction.
- ASRock: Shipments are projected to fall from 4.3 million in 2025 to 2.7 million in 2026, a 37 % decline for the company and contributing to an overall 28 % market contraction among the big four manufacturers.
These revisions highlight the broader pressure on the enthusiast PC market as chipmakers prioritize AI chip production over consumer‑grade components.
Footnotes
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Original article: Digitimes report (machine translated) ↩