Established in 2002 in a bid to serve the market of low-cost mainboards, Asrock became the world's third largest supplier of motherboards in 2010 after its parent company Asustek Computer as well as Gigabyte Technology.

Asustek Computer shipped 21.6 million mainboards in 2010, which was behind its goal to supply 25 million of motherboards. Still, Asus was well ahead of Gigabyte Technology, which shipped 18 million platforms last year, reports DigiTimes web-site. Asrock became the third largest maker of motherboards in 2010 with 8 million units shipped. Micro-Star International (MSI) and Elitegroup Computer System (ECS) each shipped about 7 million mainboards last year.

Average selling prices of mainboards by Asrock are much lower compared to platforms by other manufacturers. Nonetheless, the company manages to maintain gross margin of about 18% - 19%.

The majority of Asrock's mainboards are sold on developing markets, such as China, Brazil, India and others. Nonetheless, the company also develops higher-end mainboards with overclocking and tuning functionality in order to remain competitive on established markets, including the U.S.

For 2011, Asustek expects its shipments to grow about 5% year-over-year and reach 22.7 million units, while Gigabyte expects its shipments to maintain at about 18-18.5 million units and Asrock will aim to ship nine million units.

Tags: Asrock, ASUS, Gigabyte, MSI, ECS, Business