Tech Industry
AMD expects 20% decline in gaming revenue from 'higher component costs' in the second half of 2026
Artificial Intelligence
Samsung and SK hynix warn AI-driven memory shortages could last until 2027 and beyond, as HBM demand explodes
PC Components
Get a DDR5 starter build with a Ryzen 5 7600X and ASRock B650M Pro motherboard for 23% off
Artificial Intelligence
Huawei could seize China’s AI chip crown in 2026 as Nvidia’s H200 shipments stall in regulatory limbo
CPUs
Intel reportedly says it boosted yields by selling what would normally be 'scrap' or 'low-expectation' CPUs
Desktops
Apple warns Mac mini and Mac Studio shortages could last for months
Tech Industry
Huawei braces for $12 billion in AI chip revenue driven by homegrown AI model demand — Chinese fabs can barely keep up as Nvidia's market share craters within the region
Artificial Intelligence
Nvidia's exposure to Asian supply chains for components hits 90% of its production costs
Semiconductors
Global semiconductor sales hit nearly $300 billion in Q1 2026 — chips are on track to top $1 trillion for this year, says report
Artificial Intelligence
Meta's multi-billion-dollar Graviton deal highlights intensifying CPU shortages in AI infrastructure
CPUs
AMD posts record first-quarter results, driven by skyrocketing data center CPU demand
CPUs
CPU requirements for AI workloads are multiplying, driving intensifying shortages and price hikes
Tech Industry
Nvidia market share in China falls to less than 60%
Tech Industry
China's homegrown silicon suppliers gain traction as Nvidia struggles to get its chips into the market
Get Tom's Hardware's best news and in-depth reviews, straight to your inbox.
Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsorsYou are now subscribed
Your newsletter sign-up was successful
Trending- 🔥TH Premium Deal
- Where to buy AMD's 9950X3D2
- Intel Xeon 600
- RAM Combo Deals
- DLSS 5
- Bartlett Lake
- RAM Shortage
- PC Components
- Motherboards
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
Fewer people are buying parts and building new PCs from scratch.
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.
Motherboard sales are now collapsing amid unprecedented shortages fueled by AI, causing prices for many major PC components to rise across the board during the past six months, with memory modules and storage drives leading the way. Now those shortages are being exacerbated by chipmakers, like Nvidia, Intel, and AMD, reducing production of consumer chips so they can manufacture more AI processors. The AI infrastructure buildout is also causing shortages for Intel and AMD CPUs (and even high-end Macs), especially as interest in agentic AI is going through the roof.
Because of this, users who don’t have deep pockets are putting off upgrading their PCs and holding on to their current devices longer. Motherboard manufacturers have begun to feel the effects of these delayed purchases, with Digitimes [machine translated] reporting that the four major firms are revising their target sales downward.
Asus, which sold 15 million motherboards in 2025, has only shipped a little more than 5 million in the first half of 2026. It’s expected that the company will have to push hard for it to even move 10 million units by the end of the year, marking a 33% decrease in sales year-on-year. Gigabyte and MSI sold 11.5 million and 11 million motherboards last year, respectively. However, both companies have revised their internal forecasts for 2026 to 9 million (Gigabyte) and 8.4 million (MSI), a 22% drop for the former and a 24% contraction for the latter.
You may like-
PC makers face shortages of Intel and AMD CPUs that stretch up to six months
-
Brace for a barren landscape of new hardware launches, as AI demand reshapes the world of consumer electronics
-
Entry-level PC market to ‘disappear’ by 2028
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.
Get Tom's Hardware's best news and in-depth reviews, straight to your inbox.
Contact me with news and offers from other Future brandsReceive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsorsBy submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.
Follow Tom's Hardware on Google News, or add us as a preferred source, to get our latest news, analysis, & reviews in your feeds.
TOPICS MSI Asus Gigabyte asrock See all comments (2) Social Links NavigationContributing WriterJowi Morales is a tech enthusiast with years of experience working in the industry. He’s been writing with several tech publications since 2021, where he’s been interested in tech hardware and consumer electronics.
Tech Industry
Brace for a barren landscape of new hardware launches, as AI demand reshapes the world of consumer electronics
Tech Industry
Entry-level PC market to ‘disappear’ by 2028
CPUs
‘CPUs are cool again,' Intel and AMD reporting spikes in CPU demand due to agentic AI
CPUs
CPU requirements for AI workloads are multiplying, driving intensifying shortages and price hikes
Tech Industry
US PC sales grow by 3% in late 2025 as companies and consumers scrambled to replace Windows 10
PC Components
MSI plans 30% gaming product price hike as memory and GPU shortages bite
Motherboards
Gigabyte Z890 Aorus Elite Duo X Motherboard Review: CQDIMM support with Arrow Lake Refresh
Motherboards
EXPO 1.2 will come to 600-series AM5 motherboards later, tech only enables partial CUDIMM support
Motherboards
iGame X870E Vulcan OC V14 Motherboard Review: Colorful enters the high-end overclocking scene
Motherboards
Gigabyte X870E Aorus Xtreme X3D AI Top motherboard review: The latest and greatest Xtreme
Motherboards
Nvidia's long-rumored N1 SoC spotted on a laptop motherboard with 128 GB RAM, listed for $1,400
Motherboards
Kickstart your next Intel build with these two outstanding $139 motherboard bundles
PC Cases
Lian Li’s new DK07 Wood motorized standing desk doubles as a dual-PC chassis with support for E-ATX systems and massive cooling setups
Big Tech
Nvidia’s ISP piracy defense backfires as judge refuses to dismiss copyright lawsuit over more than 197,000 pirated books
Tech Industry
After a $16 billion Stargate AI data center was built despite being voted down, Michigan towns rush to block new buildouts
Artificial Intelligence
Musk's SpaceX has rented out access to its supercomputer's 220,000 Nvidia GPUs and 300 megawatts of AI compute power to rival Anthropic
Big Tech
Samsung chip workers reject $340,000 one-time bonus, demand annual payouts like SK hynix's $900,000
Tech Industry
PCIe 8.0 spec hits 1 TB/s of bandwidth and has new connector technology
- Kindaian Reply
- Anton_Godlike_Gaming Reply
- View All 2 Comments