Motherboard makers are bracing for another price rise as PCB, capacitor, and Wi-Fi module costs continue to climb up the supply chain.
According to VideoCardz production costs have increased by at least 10 per cent, while price rises introduced by manufacturers in August averaged only about three per cent.
Board Channels said PCB prices have risen between 15 per cent and 50 per cent, depending on the type used in each motherboard.
Capacitors have become about 50 per cent more expensive, while Wi-Fi modules have increased by roughly 10 per cent to 20 per cent.
Those increases hit the bill of materials before manufacturers account for assembly, logistics, and the usual channel costs that get dumped on buyers.
Manufacturers in China adjusted prices in August, but the increases covered only part of the extra costs now being borne by production lines.
MSI raised prices across its motherboard range, while Asus and Gigabyte focused their changes on selected higher-volume models.
Colorful and Maxsun made smaller adjustments, suggesting vendors are still testing how much extra cost distributors and customers will swallow.
Earlier reports suggested Asus, Gigabyte and MSI were preparing third-quarter price changes, with Intel’s Nova Lake-S platform facing extra pressure from its new LGA-1954 socket.
The gap between rising component costs and smaller retail price increases suggests another round of motherboard price rises could arrive before long.
