Taiwan motherboard makers fall short of 2010 shipment goals

[Matthew DeCarlo]

This proved to be a rocky year for Taiwanese motherboard manufacturers, according to DigiTimes. Between the bond crisis in Europe and weaker-than-expected demand in China, all Taiwan-based motherboard makers fell short of their shipment goals for 2010.

Asus reportedly moved some 21.6 million boards this year, which is on par with 2009, but still lower than its intended 25 million shipments. Gigabyte also remained flat on-year, shipping 18.5 million motherboards, which is 1.5 million less than the company hoped for.

Meanwhile, Elitegroup Computer System (ECS) and Micro-Star International (MSI) are said to have shipped 6.5 and seven million boards, and despite having a strong OEM presence, neither company met its goal for 2010. DigiTimes noted that ASRock surpassed both firms in branded shipments this year, moving eight million units, which is one million more than 2009 and a million short of the company's target for 2010.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/41780-taiwan-motherboard-makers-fall-short-of-2010-shipment-goals.html

 

[captaincranky]

Well, life sucks and then you don't make as much money as think you're entitled to. Let's face it, nobody ever really makes as much money as they think they deserve.

The irony is that China is probably responsible for China's loss of revenue. If you can't repatriate them, under sell them, that's what I always say

Who came up with the projections anyway? Probably a bunch of business administration majors, sitting around at a power lunch, running up the company expense account.."We'll tell the board that we're going to soooo... much money, then they won't complain about the bill.

 

[dividebyzero]

MSI and ECS suffer lower than expected demand for their boards. Quelle surprise.

I'm guessing the suits at Jetway and Foxconn (retail boards) aren't popping the champagne corks either.

I suppose that's what happens when you release a new socket or two, then basically have to scrap (send to Chinese home market) entire product lines when USB 3.0 and SATA 6Gb happen along a few months later.

 

[emmzo]

I bought three motherboards in eight years and I guess that`s how an average person would do so I don`t really understand how these guys expect such a big growth per year especially in this time of crisis, but then again I`m no market expert.

 

[captaincranky]

Well, before we start, the "average" person buys no motherboards in 8 years, then wakes up one morning, realizes that their prebuilt Dell is no spring chicken, enrolls at Techspot, and makes their first post, "can I upgrade my 8 year old Dell to play Crysis". So, in the grand scheme of things, you're actually quite the little motherboard consumer.

I bought three motherboards in eight years and I guess that`s how an average person would do so I don`t really understand how these guys expect such a big growth per year especially in this time of crisis, but then again I`m no market expert.

What you missed is this, the "experts" aren't actually experts, they're the sons of the old farts that own the companies.

Even if that's just a wild guess, Taiwan has to be suffering from escalating wage demands, and the associated cost increases. Taiwan has been a capitalist paradise for some time, much longer than mainland China. This has obviously happened here in the US decades ago, and everybody's "industrial revolution" pretty much tracks along the same curve. The longer a company exists, the more well compensated it's workers will become. This is a pitfall associated with democracy, collective bargaining, and general affluence.

So, the "real" Chinese, aren't paying their workers as well yet, and they take the business away from other countries. The detached "experts" are too stupid to factor this into their projections. "Group think", doesn't always have great clarity in the first place, and any shot at clear thought dissipates altogether, when the "group thinkers" have their noses packed with coke, backed up with 3 martinis during lunch.

 

[fpsgamerJR62]

I change motherboards maybe every 3 or 4 years depending on which platforms appeal to me. My guess is that the shortfall in MB shipments has something to do with businesses taking their time in shifting to Windows 7 from XP and Vista since their hardware upgrades seem to coincide with the adoption of new Windows versions. The announcement that Intel is killing off Socket 1156 in favor of Sandy Bridge isn't doing the MB manufacturers any favors. Now they have ship out their LGA 1156 board inventories before Intel EOLs the corresponding processors.

 

[garyhope]

" The announcement that Intel is killing off Socket 1156 in favor of Sandy Bridge isn't doing the MB manufacturers any favors. Now they have ship out their LGA 1156 board inventories before Intel EOLs the corresponding processors. "

Is this true? I'm on the verge of a new build and I was considering the 1156 platform with an i5 CPU. Should I wait? And for how long? I'm not a gamer, just an "ordinary" user that mostly trades stocks and currencies online (with 4 monitors). I do like speed of course but with reliability.

When will the Sandy Bridge boards be mainstream and affordable? Thanks.

 

[dividebyzero]

" The announcement that Intel is killing off Socket 1156 in favor of Sandy Bridge isn't doing the MB manufacturers any favors. Now they have ship out their LGA 1156 board inventories before Intel EOLs the corresponding processors. "
Is this true? .

Yes and No. Socket 1155 (Sandy Bridge) and 1156 (Lynnfield) will sell side-by-side for a while yet although I doubt that Lynnfield CPU's will be updated. Sandy Bridge is cheaper to manufacture and Intel would want all it's products moved over to the newer 32nm process as quickly as possible.

I'm on the verge of a new build and I was considering the 1156 platform with an i5 CPU. Should I wait? .

Yes

And for how long? I'm not a gamer, just an "ordinary" user that mostly trades stocks and currencies online (with 4 monitors). I do like speed of course but with reliability..

A week or so. Sandy Bridge launch day is January 5. Most board makers already have their LGA1155 boards listed. Some- as well as the CPU's-are even available for sale.
For the most part, Sandy Bridge will offer much the same feature set as Lynnfield. The principle differences are a much better graphics solution incorporated into the CPU which should offer the same advantages as a discrete graphics card ( HD capable, video decode/encode, limited gaming ability) and the new AVX instruction set, which once implemented by software programmers promises a much faster software enviroment (web browsers will likely be among the first to take advantage of this new feature).
Clock for clock (CPU "speed") Sandy Bridge is likely to be 10-15% faster than Lynnfield. Given that Sandy Bridge CPU's are clocked higher than the older parts then the figure looks to be about 25%.
The other principle difference is that Sandy Bridge uses substantially less power in intensive tasks. Whereas Lynnfield CPU's are predominantly 95w TDP (Core i3 is 73w), Sandy Bridge tops out at 95w (performance CPU), 65w (mainstream), and 35w (low power Core i5/i3).

When will the Sandy Bridge boards be mainstream and affordable? Thanks.

Pricing should be competitive with LGA1156 from launch day. The other metric to consider is that LGA1156 boards and CPU's could be found cheaper than they are currently if outlets want to clear inventory. I wouldn't expect the price of LGA1156 to be slashed across the board- this is likely to be more along the lines of newegg (for example) offering spot specials on CPU's/boards rather than wholesale price cuts and is likely to affect upper tier (enthusiast) CPU models and boards in the short term
Here is the pricing list for Sandy Bridge CPU's.
Board pricing should, judging by what is already being sold, be comparable with LGA1156 motherboards.