Some interesting news came in from digitimes, general manger of Asustek's motherboard business unit revealed that prices of motherboard are expected to increase by 5-10 percent on average, and even as much as 15 percent for some models. The price hike reflects the labor shortage in China, the appreciation of the Taiwanese dollar and the increase of commodity prices.

The increase is to cope with the labor shortage in China, the NT dollar's appreciation and rising material costs, especially when copper price has soared to over US$9,000 per ton, Lin noted.

Prices of motherboards are expected to hike by 5-10% on average, or even as much as 15%, in the first half of 2011, according to an estimate of industry sources.

The price hike is unlikely to affect the growth momentum of motherboards or sales in DIY channels as some key PC parts and components have actually see prices slide and therefore, the overall purchasing costs for consumers will not increase significantly, Lin commented.