Computer Forum
ASUS TUF GAMING B850 PLUS WIFI B850 Chipsatz (Image © PCMasters.de)
Cost Pressures in the Supply Chain
Taiwanese manufacturers, including ASUS, GIGABYTE, and MSI, are facing sharp price increases across their entire supply chain. A major factor is the cost of unassembled printed circuit boards (PCBs), which are expected to rise by at least 50% this year. This increase is due to high demand for raw materials such as copper.
Aside from printed circuit boards, production is being hampered by shortages of several key electronic components. These include:
- Control chips and power devices
- Surface-mount capacitors, particularly multilayer ceramic capacitors (MLCCs).
Impact on Prices and Bill of Materials
Since the entire bill of materials (BOM) varies for each motherboard depending on the design—for example, in terms of the number of PCB layers and the quantity of capacitors and control chips used—the financial impact varies by product. Consequently, price adjustments are expected to be made on a SKU-by-SKU basis rather than through a uniform percentage increase across all models.
While manufacturers have previously attempted to absorb these rising costs internally to avoid passing them on to consumers, industry data suggests they have reached a tipping point, making price increases necessary for this quarter.
