In a bid to receive favourable pricing, receive priorities in supplies and boost market share, large motherboard manufacturers Asustek Computer and Gigabyte Technology had reportedly acquired too many latest 4-series chipsets from Intel Corp., which they have not managed to sell due to the global economic turmoil.

Presently Asustek Computer has 6-7 million Intel 4-series core-logic sets in its stocks, which is equivalent to around $180.18 million, whereas Gigabyte has chipsets that worth around $120.12 – $150.15 million, according to a news-story by DigiTimes web-site that cites sources among mainboard makers.

Considering the fact that Intel 4-series core-logic sets are the last new chipsets for Intel Core 2-series microprocessors, having excessive chipset inventories is hardly a catastrophe for large mainboard suppliers as the Core 2 chips will remain on the mainstream market for several quarters from now. Still, since both Asus and Gigabyte usually tend to offer a broad line of high-end mainboards for the latest processors, expansion of the new-generation Core i7 family will catalyze the two motherboard vendors to quickly decrease pricing of current products, which is generally good for the consumer.

Mainboard and graphics cards makers usually try to allocate as much chips from designers as possible in order to get lower prices, shipments priorities and, as a result, boost their market shares. However, ordering excessive amount of chips amid global economic crisis is a risky action, as the demand may unexpectedly become too low.

Currently many consumers are getting low-cost notebooks, or even netbooks, instead of new desktop personal computers, which is why the demand towards classic mainboards is declining and nobody knows when exactly it hits the bottom. Mainboard makers are afraid that Intel will release new breeds of chipsets or substantially cut pricing before they manage to get rid of overstock core-logic inventories.

Asustek and Gigabyte refused to officially comment regarding their inventory issues, while Intel declined to comment on this report.

Tags: ASUS, Gigabyte, Intel, Business