What Happened to Motherboard Market Collapse (2025-2026)?
The global motherboard market, particularly the consumer and DIY PC segment, is experiencing a significant downturn in 2025-2026, widely described as a 'collapse'. This is primarily driven by chipmakers prioritizing high-margin AI processors and server components, leading to severe shortages and soaring prices for consumer CPUs, GPUs, and especially DRAM. Consequently, major motherboard manufacturers have drastically revised down their 2026 shipment targets for consumer boards, while pivoting to the booming AI server market to maintain profitability.
Quick Answer
The motherboard market is currently undergoing a significant 'collapse' in its consumer segment, with major manufacturers like ASUS, Gigabyte, MSI, and ASRock facing projected shipment declines of 22-37% in 2026. This downturn is largely due to the booming AI industry diverting chip production capacity, causing severe shortages and price hikes for PC components like memory and CPUs. Consumers are delaying upgrades amidst high costs and a lack of new compelling hardware, though manufacturers are offsetting these losses by focusing on the lucrative AI server market.
📊Key Facts
📅Complete Timeline12 events
Gigabyte Launches Z890 Series Motherboards
Gigabyte launched its Z890 series motherboards, with the flagship AORUS XTREME featuring Thunderbolt 5 support, indicating ongoing innovation in the high-end segment.
Initial Rise in Memory & Storage Costs
The cost of mainstream memory and storage configurations began to increase, rising by between $90 and $165, putting initial pressure on PC vendors.
Overall Motherboard Market Valuation
The global motherboard market size was valued at USD 15.81 Billion in 2024 and was projected to grow to USD 18.66 Billion in 2025, reflecting growth in broader segments like industrial and server motherboards.
GIGABYTE Launches X870E AORUS X3D Motherboards
GIGABYTE introduced its X870E AORUS X3D motherboards for the North American market, catering to the enthusiast segment.
Sharp Increase in DRAM Prices Begins
DRAM prices began climbing sharply, significantly increasing the total cost of entry for new PC builds and discouraging many consumers from upgrading.
Consumer Motherboard Sales Decline by 40-50%
Major motherboard vendors reported a significant decrease in consumer motherboard sales, falling by approximately 40-50% compared to the same period in 2024, even during the holiday season.
IDC Warns of 'Unprecedented Inflection Point' in Memory Market
IDC published a report warning that the memory market was at an 'unprecedented inflection point,' with demand materially outpacing supply due to AI infrastructure expansion.
Intel and AMD Raise CPU Prices
Affected by rising upstream material, manufacturing, and packaging costs, Intel and AMD began raising CPU prices, further increasing PC build costs.
Gartner and IDC Forecast Steep PC Market Declines
Gartner projected global PC shipments to fall 10.4% in 2026, while IDC forecast an 11.3% decline, marking the steepest contraction in over a decade. Memory costs were noted to account for 23% of a PC's BOM.
Omdia Forecasts 12% Decline in Global PC Shipments
Omdia projected worldwide PC shipments to decline by 12% to 245 million units in 2026, driven by an expected minimum 60% rise in memory and storage prices in Q1 2026.
Motherboard Market Size (Alternative Forecast)
The motherboard market size was valued at USD 6.12 billion in 2025 and was expected to grow to USD 6.28 billion in 2026, indicating varied market segment analyses.
Motherboard Sales 'Collapse' by Over 25%, Manufacturers Pivot to AI Servers
Multiple reports confirm a 'collapse' in consumer motherboard sales, with major manufacturers revising 2026 shipment targets downwards by 22-37%. This is attributed to AI demand diverting chip production and soaring component prices. Manufacturers are largely offsetting these losses through strong revenue from AI server segments.
🔍Deep Dive Analysis
The 'Motherboard Market Collapse' refers to the sharp decline in sales and shipments within the consumer and DIY (Do-It-Yourself) PC motherboard sector, particularly evident throughout 2025 and accelerating into 2026. This downturn is characterized by unprecedented shortages and escalating prices for key PC components, largely a ripple effect of the burgeoning Artificial Intelligence (AI) industry.
One of the primary drivers of this collapse is the strategic shift by major chipmakers, including Nvidia, Intel, and AMD, to prioritize the production of high-margin AI processors and server-grade components over consumer-focused chips. This reallocation of manufacturing capacity has led to severe supply constraints for desktop CPUs and GPUs, making them scarcer and more expensive for PC builders. Compounding this issue is the dramatic surge in DRAM (memory) prices, with forecasts indicating a 60% increase in Q1 2026 and a potential 130% surge for combined DRAM and SSD prices by the end of 2026. Memory costs alone are projected to constitute over 30% of a PC's total Bill of Materials (BOM) in 2026, up from 15-18% in early 2026, making new PC builds prohibitively expensive for many consumers.
This confluence of factors has significantly dampened consumer enthusiasm for upgrading or building new PCs. A lack of compelling new hardware launches, such as the delayed Nvidia RTX 60 series (rumored for 2028) and the absence of a refreshed RTX 50 Super series in 2026, further disincentivizes upgrades. Additionally, ongoing geopolitical instabilities and supply chain disruptions, including rerouted shipping lanes and fluctuating tariffs, have exacerbated component availability and increased logistics costs, contributing to higher end-product prices.
The consequences for motherboard manufacturers have been stark. Leading Taiwanese firms like ASUS, Gigabyte, MSI, and ASRock have significantly revised their 2026 motherboard shipment targets downwards. ASUS, which shipped 15 million boards in 2025, is now aiming for only 10 million in 2026, a 33% decrease. Gigabyte and MSI expect declines of 22% and 24% respectively, while ASRock faces the steepest drop at 37%. This translates to an estimated 28% contraction for the overall motherboard market among these major players. The situation is described as worse than previous financial crises and the initial year of the COVID-19 pandemic for the DIY PC market.
As of May 2026, while the consumer motherboard market struggles, these manufacturers are largely offsetting their losses through robust sales in the AI server segment. Companies like ASUS, Gigabyte, and ASRock are seeing AI servers become their primary revenue driver, ensuring overall profitability remains stable despite the consumer downturn. The broader PC market is also projected to decline significantly in 2026, with Gartner forecasting a 10.4% drop and IDC an 11.3% decline in worldwide PC shipments. Analysts predict that the entry-level PC market (sub-$500) will effectively disappear by 2028 due to the inability of vendors to absorb rising component costs.
What If...?
Explore alternate histories. What if Motherboard Market Collapse (2025-2026) made different choices?