PC Motherboard Shipments to Drop 28% in 2026

Major PC motherboard manufacturers are forecasting sharp declines in 2026 shipments, with sales dropping as much as 37 percent from the previous year amid AI-driven shortages that have driven up prices for memory, storage, CPUs and graphics cards.

Taiwanese firms dominate the market, and all four leading players have revised their targets downward. Asus, which shipped 15 million motherboards in 2025, has moved just over 5 million units in the first half of 2026 and now expects around 10 million for the full year, a 33 percent decrease. Gigabyte anticipates 9 million units, down 22 percent from its 11.5 million in 2025. MSI projects 8.4 million, a 24 percent contraction from 11 million last year. ASRock faces the steepest fall, with shipments forecast at 2.7 million, off 37 percent from 4.3 million in 2025. Overall, the big four expect a roughly 28 percent market contraction.

The downturn stems from surging demand for AI infrastructure, which has strained global supplies of DRAM, NAND storage and processors. Chipmakers including Nvidia, Intel and AMD have prioritized AI production over consumer parts, leading to shortages and price hikes. DDR4 and DDR5 memory kits have become...