Intel's scaling back CPU shipments for builders, could hit motherboard makers

[midian182]

Why it matters: Intel’s 14nm CPU shortage continues. According to a new report, the company will be cutting processor shipments to the PC DIY distributor market by as many as two million units in the fourth quarter of this year, leading to a fall in motherboard shipments by Taiwanese firms.

With Intel having delayed mass production of it 10nm process until next year, and 14nm CPUs in short supply, a DigiTimes “industry source” claims the company has reduced shipments of desktop processors so it can increase capacity for notebook and server CPUs. Shipments of desktop processors are reportedly set to fall from an expected 8 million units to 6 million in Q4 2018.

Motherboard makers from Taiwan are feeling the effects of the CPU shortage. Tul and Gigabyte are both expected to see their revenues drop this quarter, while Asus is expected to see revenue stay flat QoQ, though its profits for the whole of 2018 are estimated to have fallen YoY. MSI, however, is likely to be unaffected, thanks to strong sales of its gaming motherboards and graphics cards.

Asus believes that the CPU shortages, especially those for desktops, will last until the second quarter of 2019.

Several other factors have contributed to declining revenues in the motherboard market. The continuing decrease in cryptomining, which has been in decline since around April, has seen mining graphics cards and motherboard sales fall.

Nvidia latest RTX 2000-series has also taken some of the blame. Their low price/performance ratio compared to existing graphics cards has resulted in lower-than-expected sales of new motherboards.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/77463-intel-scaling-back-cpu-shipments-could-hit-motherboard.html

 

[n3o127]

Hopefully the channel is ready with stock of AMD based motherboards and even video cards to cover the gap. What a great time (RTX bumps) for AMD to have decided to go ahead after all with 7nm RX Vega 64 (including full plate liquid offering again).

 

[Uncle Al]

I'm sure the AMD makers are rejoicing and hoping they can still make their own price point while Intel flounders. I'd love to know the mark up on Intel products just to see how low they could go if they decided to have a price war with AMD ...... now wouldn't that be interesting? The old Gas Wars (long before most of you were born) actually produced a few retailers that sold product below cost just to drive competitors out of business. Not sure how many were successful but for the consumer those were sweet, sweet days!

 

[Lew Zealand]

2 years ago that would have been a disaster for DIY builders. But now we have Zen.

Life is good.

 

[misor]

Tin foil hat ON.

my conspiracy theory brain tells me something is going on. Intel has an existing agreement with AMD: combining AMD's custom graphics with intel core processor. maybe AMD told Intel to back off for a few years.