What was rumor yesterday seems to be confirmed today. According to Digitimes, a joint venture between Asus and Gigabyte is in fact in the works. It's a strategic move which aims to block a potential acquisition of Gigabyte by Foxconn and lower Gigabyte's production cost to help them better compete with ECS and MSI.
"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."