According to Digitimes, the last two years have been rubbish for the desktop PC and DIY markets in China.  This caused Taiwan's top-five motherboard suppliers to suffer significant sales declines.

Asustek  managed to offset sales shrinkage in the sectors with its ROG-branded gaming motherboards bearing higher average selling prices (ASP) and gross margins, while Micro-Star International (MSI) also successfully built a firm presence in the medium to high-end gaming motherboards and graphics card markets. In contrast, Gigabyte's AORUS-branded gaming products and graphics cards did not perform as well as their competitors, the sources said.

However, Gigabyte has leaned on its motherboards to support its revenues and profitability a little too much. Despite its heavy investments in the notebook, tablet and mobile phone segments, the company has quit the unprofitable tablet and mobile phone businesses.

The sluggish global market demand and the gradual waning of growth momentum in China over the past two years, however, have combined to undermine Gigabyte's overall strength in the motherboard sector. In addition, accustomed to fighting single-handedly, the company has also lagged behind Asustek and MSI in its share of the gaming and performance-oriented motherboard market, especially in Europe, Digitimes said.