Asustek and Gigabyte form joint venture
Monica Chen, Taipei; Jessie Shen, DigiTimes.com [Tuesday 8 August 2006]

Asustek Computer and Gigabyte Technology, two Taiwan-based motherboard manufacturers, announced on August 8 the establishment of a joint venture to produce "Gigabyte" branded motherboard and graphics cards. The new company is scheduled to become operational on January 1, 2007, with details of the operations to be revealed later this year, including the company's name, according to Asustek and Gigabyte at a press conference on August 8.

The Asustek-Gigabyte joint venture will be established with an initial capital of NT$8 billion (US$244 million), with 51% of the company being controlled by Gigabyte and 49% by Asustek. Under the agreement, the chairman of the joint venture will be appointed by Gigabyte, as well as three directors and one supervisor on the board of directors of the new company. The remaining two seats on the company's board will be assigned by Asustek, according to the companies.

When asked as to how the joint venture will affect Asustek's timeframe for spinning off its branded and manufacturing divisions by 2008, the leading motherboard maker declined to comment. Asustek estimates it will ship 60 million motherboards in 2006, up from 52 million units last year.

With capacity support from Asustek, Gigabyte is expected to lower its production costs to compete against Elitegroup Computer Systems (ECS) and Micro-Star International (MSI), and avoid the potential of being acquired by Foxconn Electronics (the registered trade name of Hon Hai Precision Industry), which had sought ways to negotiate a merger with Gigabyte, according to industry sources. Asustek's monthly capacity for motherboards expanded to 20 million units in 2005.

Auf dem Mainboard-Markt bahnt sich eine Riesenallianz an. Asus und Gigabyte wollen eine neue Produktionsfirma gründen.

Wie die beiden taiwanesischen Unternehmen verkünden, planen sie eine strategische Allianz für die Produktion von Mainboards. Entstehen soll eine neue Firma mit einem Startkapital von ca. 300 Millionen Franken [1]. Sie soll Mainboards unter dem Markennamen Gigabyte produzieren. Asus wird 49 Prozent und Gigabyte 51 Prozent des Konzerns kontrollieren. Die beiden Unternehmen rechnen mit einem Firmenstart im Januar 2007. Durch die Allianz hoffen sie die Herstellungskosten zu senken und damit günstigere Produkte auf den Markt zu bringen.