Motherboard sales are 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.
Those shortages are being exacerbated by chipmakers like Nvidia, Intel, and AMD, which have reduced 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), as interest in agentic AI rockets through the roof.
Because of this, users who lack 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 target sales downward.
Asus, which sold 15 million motherboards in 2025, has shipped only a little more than 5 million in the first half of 2026. The company will have to push hard 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. The 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.
ASRock will be hardest hit by the situation: The company’s shipments are 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.
Motherboard sales are 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.
Those shortages are being exacerbated by chipmakers like Nvidia, Intel, and AMD, which have reduced 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), as interest in agentic AI rockets through the roof.
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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.
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.
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Jowi 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.
I need no motherboards if there are no CPUs, Memory, GPUs, SDDs available on a reasonable price. AI increased prices of everything at least 3x, if not more. I could build a new computer (as my existing one is quite old), but not intend to pay 5k for it (aka there are motherboards now at 1k price point, and they are not even dual cpu! how come this reach this absurd point?). Reply
The prior DIY market-share numbers are fuzzy math... and all this was due for a reckoning. Reply
Make boards for all those ai cpus, problem solved... Reply
The price of 64GB RAM put me off from buying a new motherboard and CPU this year. GPU prices are also getting more and more ridiculous. The current rigs will just have to keep going as is. We really need more competition in the RAM and GPU industries. Reply
Doesn’t help motherboards have gotten stupid too over the last 10 years. The Z170 Maximus Hero was under £200 at launch, the Z890 Maximus Hero has an MSRP just shy of £700. Reply
LordVile said:Doesn’t help motherboards have gotten stupid too over the last 10 years. The Z170 Maximus Hero was under £200 at launch, the Z890 Maximus Hero has an MSRP just shy of £700.More of a market segmentation, brand expansions thing there I think. ASUS Strix series kind of took over the middle from the low end Maximus line. Those brands kicked off for 200 and 300 series boards. They went all out on the Maximus brand the last few years. non branded, Prime, Pro, Maximus now Prime, Pro, TUF, Strix, ProArt, Maximus (not actually sure where MaxGaming fits in. I think those are the boards they sell mostly with OEM gaming builds?) Still only Z890 Hero is only 420 right now. That is the price for those people who buy it at launch. Reply
LordVile said:Doesn’t help motherboards have gotten stupid too over the last 10 years. The Z170 Maximus Hero was under £200 at launch, the Z890 Maximus Hero has an MSRP just shy of £700.
Eximo said:More of a market segmentation, brand expansions thing there I think. ASUS Strix series kind of took over the middle from the low end Maximus line. Those brands kicked off for 200 and 300 series boards. They went all out on the Maximus brand the last few years. non branded, Prime, Pro, Maximus now Prime, Pro, TUF, Strix, ProArt, Maximus (not actually sure where MaxGaming fits in. I think those are the boards they sell mostly with OEM gaming builds?) Still only Z890 Hero is only 420 right now. That is the price for those people who buy it at launch.Issue is there’s about 5 Maximus boards and the hero is the cheapest one. They haven’t just expanded the brands they’ve pushed them all up in price. Reply
Eximo said:More of a market segmentation, brand expansions thing there I think. ASUS Strix series kind of took over the middle from the low end Maximus line. Those brands kicked off for 200 and 300 series boards. They went all out on the Maximus brand the last few years. non branded, Prime, Pro, Maximus now Prime, Pro, TUF, Strix, ProArt, Maximus (not actually sure where MaxGaming fits in. I think those are the boards they sell mostly with OEM gaming builds?) Still only Z890 Hero is only 420 right now. That is the price for those people who buy it at launch.
I don't expect it to happen, but I would hope this desktop motherboard sales collapse would force these companies to look into other similar markets, such as moving into "completely-from-scratch" DIY laptops. Reply
ezst036 said:I don't expect it to happen, but I would hope this desktop motherboard sales collapse would force these companies to look into other similar markets, such as moving into "completely-from-scratch" DIY laptops.You think consumers not buying motherboards will shift over to expensive niche laptops? Maybe we'll see MODT boards gain traction. Reply
ezst036 said:I don't expect it to happen, but I would hope this desktop motherboard sales collapse would force these companies to look into other similar markets, such as moving into "completely-from-scratch" DIY laptops.
The problem is not competition. The problem is raw production output after the rich bros burn other people money buying all existing products in the market. From what I'm seeing, my next computer is 2 or 3 years in the future. Reply
Because of this, users who lack 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 target sales downward.
Asus, which sold 15 million motherboards in 2025, has shipped only a little more than 5 million in the first half of 2026. The company will have to push hard 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. The 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.
ASRock will be hardest hit by the situation: The company’s shipments are 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.
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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.
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.
Follow Tom's Hardware on Google News, or add us as a preferred source, to get our latest news, analysis, & reviews in your feeds.
Jowi 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.
I need no motherboards if there are no CPUs, Memory, GPUs, SDDs available on a reasonable price. AI increased prices of everything at least 3x, if not more. I could build a new computer (as my existing one is quite old), but not intend to pay 5k for it (aka there are motherboards now at 1k price point, and they are not even dual cpu! how come this reach this absurd point?). Reply
The prior DIY market-share numbers are fuzzy math... and all this was due for a reckoning. Reply
Make boards for all those ai cpus, problem solved... Reply
The price of 64GB RAM put me off from buying a new motherboard and CPU this year. GPU prices are also getting more and more ridiculous. The current rigs will just have to keep going as is. We really need more competition in the RAM and GPU industries. Reply
Doesn’t help motherboards have gotten stupid too over the last 10 years. The Z170 Maximus Hero was under £200 at launch, the Z890 Maximus Hero has an MSRP just shy of £700. Reply
LordVile said:Doesn’t help motherboards have gotten stupid too over the last 10 years. The Z170 Maximus Hero was under £200 at launch, the Z890 Maximus Hero has an MSRP just shy of £700.More of a market segmentation, brand expansions thing there I think. ASUS Strix series kind of took over the middle from the low end Maximus line. Those brands kicked off for 200 and 300 series boards. They went all out on the Maximus brand the last few years. non branded, Prime, Pro, Maximus now Prime, Pro, TUF, Strix, ProArt, Maximus (not actually sure where MaxGaming fits in. I think those are the boards they sell mostly with OEM gaming builds?) Still only Z890 Hero is only 420 right now. That is the price for those people who buy it at launch. Reply
LordVile said:Doesn’t help motherboards have gotten stupid too over the last 10 years. The Z170 Maximus Hero was under £200 at launch, the Z890 Maximus Hero has an MSRP just shy of £700.
Eximo said:More of a market segmentation, brand expansions thing there I think. ASUS Strix series kind of took over the middle from the low end Maximus line. Those brands kicked off for 200 and 300 series boards. They went all out on the Maximus brand the last few years. non branded, Prime, Pro, Maximus now Prime, Pro, TUF, Strix, ProArt, Maximus (not actually sure where MaxGaming fits in. I think those are the boards they sell mostly with OEM gaming builds?) Still only Z890 Hero is only 420 right now. That is the price for those people who buy it at launch.Issue is there’s about 5 Maximus boards and the hero is the cheapest one. They haven’t just expanded the brands they’ve pushed them all up in price. Reply
Eximo said:More of a market segmentation, brand expansions thing there I think. ASUS Strix series kind of took over the middle from the low end Maximus line. Those brands kicked off for 200 and 300 series boards. They went all out on the Maximus brand the last few years. non branded, Prime, Pro, Maximus now Prime, Pro, TUF, Strix, ProArt, Maximus (not actually sure where MaxGaming fits in. I think those are the boards they sell mostly with OEM gaming builds?) Still only Z890 Hero is only 420 right now. That is the price for those people who buy it at launch.
I don't expect it to happen, but I would hope this desktop motherboard sales collapse would force these companies to look into other similar markets, such as moving into "completely-from-scratch" DIY laptops. Reply
ezst036 said:I don't expect it to happen, but I would hope this desktop motherboard sales collapse would force these companies to look into other similar markets, such as moving into "completely-from-scratch" DIY laptops.You think consumers not buying motherboards will shift over to expensive niche laptops? Maybe we'll see MODT boards gain traction. Reply
ezst036 said:I don't expect it to happen, but I would hope this desktop motherboard sales collapse would force these companies to look into other similar markets, such as moving into "completely-from-scratch" DIY laptops.
The problem is not competition. The problem is raw production output after the rich bros burn other people money buying all existing products in the market. From what I'm seeing, my next computer is 2 or 3 years in the future. Reply