Fourth-quarter motherboard shipments from Taiwan motherboard makers might be affected by a shortage of Intel 865- and 845-series core-logic chipsets, according to sources at Taiwan motherboard makers.

Efforts by Intel to force the PC industry to migrate to the 915 platform by reducing the supply of its 865 and 845 chipsets have caused the shortfall, the sources noted.

The problem is that 915-based motherboards currently account for just 10% of the Pentium 4 motherboards sold in the channel, while 865- and 845-based boards still remain the mainstream and account for 80% of the market, said the sources.

Weekly demand for the 865- and 845-series chipsets at some leading makers, including Asustek Computer and Gigabyte Technology, currently outstrips allotted supply by about 100,000 chipsets, the sources stated.

In addition, the shortage has also resulted in negative shipment growth for Elitegroup Computer Systems (ECS) and Micro-Star International (MSI) in October, the sources added.

Second-tier motherboard makers have also felt the pinch, with Abit Computer, which focuses on sales to the channel, stating that it is able to obtain just 20-30% of the chipsets it needs per week.

At best, November motherboard shipments from most Taiwan makers will remain at October’s levels, but shipments are likely to slide 2-5% sequentially, the sources stated.

By: DocMemory
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