Motherboard Sales Slide Thanks to Graphics Card Bundle 'Deals'

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The trend is predicted to last well into 2021

ASRock Z590 PG Velocita
(Image credit: ASRock)

According to DigiTimes, 2021 has seen a sharp decline in motherboard sales thanks to retailers like Newegg pairing motherboards together with graphics cards, which are in high demand. This has lead to an overabundance of motherboards being re-sold at discounted prices.

DigiTimes continues, saying that visibility for motherboards has been vague for the second half of the year. So we expect motherboard sales to continue to drop well into 2021.

This news is not surprising, given the voracious demand for graphics cards over the past year. Scalpers, miners, and gamers are all desperately trying to buy as many cards as possible, during the worst computer hardware shortage in history.

Retailers, as a result, are pushing 'combo deals,' paring a GPU with a motherboard or other component, to retain some graphics card stock while also making some extra money. Unfortunately, for a lot of people, these combo deals are the only way to buy a graphics card at all without paying a scalper a hugely inflated price. Thus, many are forced to buy an extra motherboard they will probably never use.

Many people (especially miners) are then selling the boards off rather than letting them go to waste.

So if you are looking for a motherboard purchase, there's never been a better time to check out the used market if you want to take some risk to save some cash on what may be abrand-new board well below MSRP.

Luckily for tech giants like Gigabyte, Asus, MSI, and others, the lack of motherboard sales is hugely offset by mining graphics card sales (plus however many gamers manage to get their hands on), so most board makers are probably doing just fine. But if you're in the market for one of the best motherboards, you shouldn't have much of a problem finding them in stock. In fact, with SSD prices rising thanks to Chia Coin and GPU prices in the stratosphere for the past year, motherboards may be one of the only component areas where you might be able to find a sweet deal these days.

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Aaron Klotz
Aaron Klotz
Contributing Writer

Aaron Klotz is a contributing writer for Tom’s Hardware, covering news related to computer hardware such as CPUs, and graphics cards.

7 Comments Comment from the forums
  • waltc3
    Still can't figure where all these ubiquitous "miners" are buying up all of these fantastic quantities of 3d cards...;) So where are they buying them? Why would "a miner" find it easier to purchase a GPU than "a gamer"? Because both types of customers are reduced to buying from the very same retail outlets...;) If Tom's knows of a vendor selling gobs and gobs of GPUs to "miners" that is hidden from everyone else--how about sharing that source with your readership? I don't think that's too much to ask.
    Reply
  • USAFRet
    waltc3 said:
    Still can't figure where all these ubiquitous "miners" are buying up all of these fantastic quantities of 3d cards...;) So where are they buying them? Why would "a miner" find it easier to purchase a GPU than "a gamer"? Because both types of customers are reduced to buying from the very same retail outlets...;) If Tom's knows of a vendor selling gobs and gobs of GPUs to "miners" that is hidden from everyone else--how about sharing that source with your readership? I don't think that's too much to ask.
    They're buying them from the same scalpers that everyone else sees, at the same ridiculous prices.
    They're just hoping it will mine itself out of being underwater.
    Reply
  • daworstplaya
    Since most of the mining happens in China, the miners are probably buying it in bulk directly from the manufacturers in China before they even get a change to make it into the retail chain. RIP gamers.
    Reply
  • scottsoapbox
    How are people this bad at math and economics?!?

    Someone buying a GPU being forced to buy a motherboard then reselling it to someone that actually wants to buy a motherboard doesn't reduce the number of motherboards sold. It's the exact same number of motherboards board sold.

    It changes who is paying for the motherboard (GPU customers partially subsidize the motherboard customers) and the route from manufacturer to end customer but it in no way changes the number of motherboards sold to customers that want them. In fact, it's possible the numbers increase due to the subsidized price prompting sales that wouldn't happen at MSRP.
    Reply
  • End.of.Life
    Hello, new to forums.

    "Unfortunately, for a lot of people, these combo deals are the only way to buy a graphics card at all without paying a scalper a hugely inflated price "
    Even the retailers are doing price inflation. And I would argue Newegg would be the worst unless the GPUs from these shuffle deals are actually from the marketplace? In that case, it would make more sense as to the ridiculous pricing. Despite the vendor price inflation, the prices are well above the MSRP. And, then on top of that you have to pay for something else that you don't want. That could be even worse than buying from a scalper.

    I'm not familiar with business ethics or the logistics of supply and demand, but it seems if businesses are seeing that people will pay anything, it only makes since to closely match scalpers prices.

    Not to mention the top tier motherboards are still very hard to get.
    Reply
  • gdmaclew
    scottsoapbox said:
    How are people this bad at math and economics?!?

    Someone buying a GPU being forced to buy a motherboard then reselling it to someone that actually wants to buy a motherboard doesn't reduce the number of motherboards sold. It's the exact same number of motherboards board sold.

    It changes who is paying for the motherboard (GPU customers partially subsidize the motherboard customers) and the route from manufacturer to end customer but it in no way changes the number of motherboards sold to customers that want them. In fact, it's possible the numbers increase due to the subsidized price prompting sales that wouldn't happen at MSRP.
    That's my thoughts exactly.
    Reply
  • Co BIY
    scottsoapbox said:
    How are people this bad at math and economics?!?

    Someone buying a GPU being forced to buy a motherboard then reselling it to someone that actually wants to buy a motherboard doesn't reduce the number of motherboards sold. It's the exact same number of motherboards board sold.

    It changes who is paying for the motherboard (GPU customers partially subsidize the motherboard customers) and the route from manufacturer to end customer but it in no way changes the number of motherboards sold to customers that want them. In fact, it's possible the numbers increase due to the subsidized price prompting sales that wouldn't happen at MSRP.

    Agreed. The inefficiency of the secondary market, the fact that some of them are probably thrown away or languish in storage likely increases sales overall not the opposite.

    I agree with the article that it should create some good deals in the secondary markets but you'll have to work for them in a way you wouldn't straight retail.

    In short, the bundles create more "waste" in the market place and increase the damage rather than help. The only bright side is that even these bundles are in such short supply that the damage is limited.
    Reply