ASRock Rumored To Enter Graphics Card Market As AMD-Exclusive Partner
ASRock, the former spin-off of ASUS, is best known for its extensive line of motherboards, many of which come crammed with a boatload of features at attractive price points. The company also dabbles in a few other products categories, such as networking and mini PCs. Rumor has it that ASRock will add graphics cards to its products arsenal next month, with a focus mainly on AMD-based products.
This is not a foregone conclusion by any means. The rumor originates at Digitimes, which itself is citing unnamed "market watchers," whatever that means. However, it does not take a giant leap of the imagination to envision ASRock getting into the graphics card game. Many companies that compete in the motherboard sector also manufacture graphics cards, such as ASUS, Gigabyte, and MSI, to name a few.
According to the report, ASRock sort of fell on hard times prior to 2017 and had not been performing well. It's said the company shipped less than four million motherboards in 2016, which is around half the volume it shipped before sales started to slip. The good news for ASRock is that things picked up in 2017—consolidated revenues hit NT9.2 billion (~$314.6 million), resulting in a profit of NT469 million (~$16 million).
Things are looking up so far this year as well. The company's revenues shot up 21.54 percent in January compared to the previous month, and 35 percent year-over-year.
Expanding into graphics cards might bring some stability to ASRock's bottom line. According to Jon Peddie Research, GPU shipments did actually decline 4.8 percent overall in 2017, but the gaming segment proved a bright spot with strong sales of high-end GPUs. In addition, cryptocurrency mining has been driving sales as well, and it does not look like that will subside in the near future.
