ECS is mulling to quit own-brand mainboards business – report

Elitegroup Computer Systems has reportedly announced that it will not actively promote its own-brand mainboards aimed at the DIY [do-it-yourself] market going forward. The company will continue to produce motherboards for its clients, but will eventually quit the market of platforms for enthusiasts.

ECS used to be one of the largest makers of mainboards in the world about ten years ago. While the company has never been truly successful with its own-brand motherboards, in the recent years the competition with Asustek Computer and Gigabyte Technology become fiercer than ever, whereas the DIY market shrank. ECS shipped 17 million mainboards in 2014, but only 3.5 million of them were aimed at the DIY market segment and carried the ECS brand-name. 13.5 million of platforms were made for various ODM (original design manufacturer) clients of ECS.

Recently ECS made decision to stop to actively market its own-brand DIY mainboards and to only fulfill orders from its OEM and OEM partners. DigiTimes reports citing sources in the supply chain that this is the equivalent of a gradual withdrawal from the global own-brand DIY motherboard market.

Unlike the majority of its competitors, ECS does not manufacture graphics cards and other components under its own brand, which could help it to keep its production capacities busy and its trademark popular.

ECS  introduced a lineup of own brand LGA1151 mainboards for Intel Corp.’s “Skylake” processors at Computex recently, therefore, mainboards with ECS trademark will not disappear from the market in the coming months.

As the competition between Asus and Gigabyte escalates, it becomes increasingly hard for other makers, such as Asrock, MicroStar International and Biostar to maintain their market share, revenue and profit margins. As a result, many believe that yet another major maker of motherboards may quit the DIY market in 2016.

ECS did not comment on the news-story.

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KitGuru Says: This is not the first time when various market sources report about ECS’ plans to quit the DIY market. The company has always denied such reports.

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