Motherboard manufacturers are currently struggling to meet demand as they experience a chronic component shortage.
The claims - made by un-named industry sources over on DigiTimes - state that first-tier motherboard manufacturers are upping their component orders with their suppliers in order to stockpile parts and avoid delaying shipments during the shortages.
Manufacturers Asustek, Gigabyte, Micro-Star International, and Elitegroup - some of the largest motherboard manufacturers in the world - are named as being concerned at the increasing scarcity of parts including multi-layer ceramic capacitors from Walsin Technology Corporation and Yageo, solid capacitors from Sanyo and Chemi-con, and RJ45 connectors from Foxconn.
The blame for the shortages is placed at the feet of recent labour shortages, which have caused component manufacturers to scale down output until they can hire more people - something which is expected to happen by the end of next month. While this will allow manufacturers to increase production once more, the damage to the market could already have been done - and it's perfectly possible that price rises could result.
More worryingly for the component manufacturers named in the report is the possibility that, in their rush to prevent undersupply, motherboard manufacturers build up a stockpile of parts - which will potentially result in the motherboard manufacturers cancelling future orders to prevent oversupply, harming the component manufacturers' future cashflow.
So far none of the motherboard or component manufacturers named in DigiTimes' claims have come forward to confirm or deny the rumours, but if true OEMs such as Dell and HP - who traditionally buy vast quantities of motherboards for their pre-built systems - could be in for a rough few months.
Are you surprised to see that a shortage of parts for just a couple of months would be enough to raise prices, or are you simply concerned that your next purchase could cost you more than you had bargained for? Share your thoughts over in the forums.
The claims - made by un-named industry sources over on DigiTimes - state that first-tier motherboard manufacturers are upping their component orders with their suppliers in order to stockpile parts and avoid delaying shipments during the shortages.
Manufacturers Asustek, Gigabyte, Micro-Star International, and Elitegroup - some of the largest motherboard manufacturers in the world - are named as being concerned at the increasing scarcity of parts including multi-layer ceramic capacitors from Walsin Technology Corporation and Yageo, solid capacitors from Sanyo and Chemi-con, and RJ45 connectors from Foxconn.
The blame for the shortages is placed at the feet of recent labour shortages, which have caused component manufacturers to scale down output until they can hire more people - something which is expected to happen by the end of next month. While this will allow manufacturers to increase production once more, the damage to the market could already have been done - and it's perfectly possible that price rises could result.
More worryingly for the component manufacturers named in the report is the possibility that, in their rush to prevent undersupply, motherboard manufacturers build up a stockpile of parts - which will potentially result in the motherboard manufacturers cancelling future orders to prevent oversupply, harming the component manufacturers' future cashflow.
So far none of the motherboard or component manufacturers named in DigiTimes' claims have come forward to confirm or deny the rumours, but if true OEMs such as Dell and HP - who traditionally buy vast quantities of motherboards for their pre-built systems - could be in for a rough few months.
Are you surprised to see that a shortage of parts for just a couple of months would be enough to raise prices, or are you simply concerned that your next purchase could cost you more than you had bargained for? Share your thoughts over in the forums.
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