Motherboard sales 'collapse' by more than 25% as chipmakers strangle enthusiast PC market to build more AI chips

Recent unprecedented chip shortages in the global PC market, driven by surging demand for artificial intelligence (AI) chips, have led to a significant rise in prices for key PC components such as mem... Read original →

The AI chip frenzy is systematically draining consumer semiconductor capacity, fracturing the PC technology stack. Foundries are reallocating 3nm and EUV lines exclusively to H100/B200-class AI processors, starving AM5 and LGA 1954 CPU supplies and crippling motherboard inventory turns. U.S. export controls on advanced packaging are fragmenting supply chains, forcing Taiwanese board makers to shift assembly to Mexico and Vietnam—at a 15%+ cost premium. Strategically, ASUS leverages its AI server ODM foothold to outmaneuver MSI, while Gigabyte bets on Intel’s Gaudi ecosystem to reduce NVIDIA dependency. With RTX 60 delayed until 2028, the next 18 months will cement 'AI-first' wafer allocation as doctrine—consumer PC isn’t cyclical; it’s undergoing structural obsolescence.