In the third quarter of 2012, although the seasonal demand for motherboards in China did not live up to expectations, the worldwide motherboard industry's shipment volume still managed to see a 7.2% sequential growth, reaching 39.1 million units. This is mainly due to vendors' strategic inventory buildups during September. Affected by vendors' price-reduction promotions, the industry's ASP (Average Selling Price) in the third quarter fell slightly but the overall shipment volume arrived at US$1.7 billion, up 5.7% sequentially. Looking into the fourth quarter, due to the limited impetus of Windows 8 on replacement demand and dwindling sales of white-box PCs and DIY PCs, it is projected that the industry's shipment volume will have reached around 36.4 million units, witnessing a 6.8% sequential decline. Meanwhile, the industry's shipment value will have arrived at around US$1.58 billion in the fourth quarter of 2012, down 7.0% sequentially. In 2013, after the launch of new SoC (System on Chip) platforms, it is anticipated that non-first-tier vendors and Chinese vendors will face the challenge of survival and some vendors may be forced to withdraw from the market.