Motherboard prices to see second wave of increases in May
Joseph Tsai, DIGITIMES [Thursday 31 March 2011]
Motherboard prices, affected by upstream component shortages caused by the Japan earthquake, are set to rise for the second time this year after mid-April, according to sources from motherboard players.
As the earthquake damaged the facilities of several upstream component makers, as well as the crisis of Japan's nuclear power plants and the power brownout policy, the upstream supply chain is expected to suffer from a serious shortage, causing the downstream IT industry to face rising component prices and affecting their prices in retail channels.
The sources pointed out that several raw materials and components are already seeing price fluctuations and prices should see a more obvious increase starting in April. To reflect the increasing costs, makers are set to raise motherboard prices in May.
The sources believe prices will increase about 3-8% after May and companies will make adjustments every month based on costs.
Early in 2011, due to shortages of labor in China and rising raw material prices, motherboard makers already raised their prices with Asustek Computer and Gigabyte Technology both increasing their motherboard prices by about 5-10%. Despite the increasing prices, since some key components for PC saw price drops, the overall price for a PC did not increase significantly, as a result, consumer demand for PCs was not affected much.
However, since the second wave of price rises involve other key components, consumer demand in the second quarter may be affected seriously.
In additional news, Intel has also notified its motherboard partners about its next-generation 7 series chipset, with the 22nm Ivy Bridge-based X79 chipset to be ready for the fourth quarter of 2011 and the rest of the 7 series set for January
