- The RAM crisis has reportedly resulted in a motherboard manufacturer crisis, according to Digitimes
- Digitimes’ report suggests motherboard shipments have plummeted for four major Taiwanese manufacturers
- Consumers no longer have the incentive to buy motherboards for new PC builds due to unaffordable RAM kits
The AI boom and ongoing economic struggles continue to leave the PC hardware market in disarray, and a recent development suggests matters are only getting worse.
As reported by PC Gamer, a new Digitimes report indicates a ‘collapse’ for motherboard manufacturers and their shipment targets for 2026, due to the memory crisis.
Unsurprisingly, RAM shortages and price hikes have effectively discouraged consumers from building new PCs, which has a knock-on effect of leaving motherboards on the shelves.
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Notably, the report states that Asus is among the four major Taiwanese motherboard manufacturers that lowered shipment targets at the end of 2025, and has still experienced a collapse in shipments. It also claims that Asus has only managed to ship 5 million motherboards in the first half of 2026, despite aiming for 10 million overall.
(Image credit: Future / John Loeffler)
Frankly, those numbers are regarded as one of the worst for Asus, as it’s said to mark the ‘lowest point in Asus’s motherboard shipments since the company split in 2008’, and also worse than the first year of the Covid-19 pandemic.
A similar case applies to MSI, which was reportedly estimating 11 million motherboard shipments but has fallen to 8.4 million for 2026.
Yes, these cases don’t directly impact consumers, especially given the lack of consumer incentive to buy motherboards (which is part of the issue, but not to blame), but in theory, low motherboard sales could lead to a drop in production for the major manufacturers.
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If the RAM crisis does dissolve, there will likely be a sudden demand for motherboards where production has been severed, ultimately leading to skyrocketing prices and shortages. It’s quite evident that the AI boom has done immense damage to the PC hardware market, but we can only hope that it isn’t irreparable.
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