Asian mainboard makers estimate that their sales will drop 20% sequentially this quarter compared to not really successful first quarter of the year. According to manufacturers, clone-market performed lower than expected initially, as a result, all companies eventually had to cut prices now in an attempt to boost sales.

On Monday, the 19^th of May we said that mainboard makers cut their prices to unprecedented low level in order to strengthen their sales, nevertheless, we are now hearing that mainboard producers re-estimate their results for the quarter because of shipments decline. Mainboard producers said their sales in April were below expectations and they now expect weak sales in May and June. Earlier companies projected 15% reduction of their quarter-over-quarter shipments in the Q2, but now they project 20% decline.

Mainboard manufacturers do not specify the reasons of weak-sales, but we may suppose that there was a mix of causes, including the war in Iraq and SARS outbreak in Asia.

Given that some mainboard companies started to sell their products powered by more advanced i865 chipsets in April, we may expect them to report better sales considering higher ASPs of such products as well as their good market acceptance thanks to the lack of a big competition among i865-based devices.

For all of us there is a bright side of this situation. Mainboard makers will try to lower their prices further and integrating more advanced capabilities in their mainboards. On the other hand, weak USD is one of the concerns against investing in computers for US residents and companies.