Taiwanese mobo makers have mountains of stock

A REPORT BY RBC CAPITAL MARKETS claimed that the market for PCs still remains weak and that warehouses all over the world are stacked with high levels of Intel-based motherboards.

The report claimed that increases in clock speeds are not sparking the market and that stocks of PC mobos are "above seasonally normal" levels in the channel.

Further, the outfit claims that PC manufacturers are exploiting the high stocks and limiting orders they're making for motherboards.

The report claims Intel chipsets, in particular, are "overstocked", citing the 845D, the 845E, the 845G and the 845GL as examples.

And the trend is set to continue, says RBC.

Projections it has made show an approximately six per cent year on year growth for the four biggest mobo makers.

Despite this, the Big Four - which the firm identifies as Asustek, Gigabyte, Microstar, and Elitegroup - continue to grow, suggesting to us here at the INQUIRER that this is at the expense of the second tier manufacturers.

Although this report only cites Intel chipsets, we understand that both SIS and Via are also feeling pain as sales continue to be weak. µ