ASUS cancels P67 shipment in favour of Z68

Motherboard giant ASUS has cancelled a massive order of P67 boards as it has said that it is unsure if demand across the USA and China is substantial enough to warrant the production of many more of the outdated P67 boards. Instead it will use its existing resources to increase production of the new Z68 boards as this seems a more viable solution in the current market place especially with the imminent arrival of X79.

The strategy ASUS has taken is similar to that of what Gigabyte has done and this now pretty much signals the end of the P67 chip set since the two largest motherboard manufacturers have now all but completely halted all production in favour of Z68 and X79. Motherboard demand isn’t predicted to be substantial enough in Q3 and based on Q1 and Q2 results all motherboard manufacturers are likely to act cautiously in terms of production.

ASUS half year results show 11.4million boards shipped relative to an Annual target of 23million so theoretically ASUS is halfway towards its target and on track although traditionally Q3 is a poor quarter for most PC component sales notably RAM and motherboards so it is now possible ASUS will not meet the target hence the cut back in the P67 department.