MSI to Reveal Its Plans for Computex 2008

Joseph Hsu, Micro-Star International (MSI) chairman, has recently revealed some information on the products the company plans to showcase at Computex 2008, which include motherboards and low-cost PCs.

MSI is on its way to announce on June 3rd a series of new motherboards using the DrMOS over clocking and power saving platform. Some voices among vendors say that MSI plans to launch no less than six motherboards based on Intel's upcoming P45 chipset. The same voices stated that there would be two entry-level motherboards with a price tag around $70-80, and that the other four would feature DrMOS and have a price tag set above $100.

With the DrMOS technology, the power usage on the new motherboards is expected to drop by 16 percent in comparison with the previous generation motherboards, states MSI.

This is not the single launch MSI is making this season, another one being a Windows XP version of its 10-inch Wind notebook, that will come in three colors, black, white and pink, and will also offer two different battery configurations. There is a six-cell pack that enables the notebook to run for six hours, but will also deliver it at the price of $620, and a three-cell battery that will cost around $580, said Hsu.

An 8.9-inch Wind notebook will be launched by MSI in July or August, while trying to maintain the product line at a gross margin of 10-15%. In order to compete with Asus Eee Box, MSI will launch its Wind PC, priced at $250 with no LCD monitor.

Referring to MSI's revenues in 2008, Hsu stressed out that the motherboards would account for 35 percent, and the graphics cards for 25 percent, while the notebook series would get 30 percent revenue. The remaining 10% will be accounted by consumer electronics, servers, industrial PCs (IPCs) and car electronics.

According to Hsu, the Wind notebook will help MSI achieve its two million unit notebook shipment goal for 2008, while motherboards and graphics cards are expected to go up in shipments to 20 million and 10 million units, respectively. Hsu also stated that this year would bring a 20% increase in revenue for MSI in comparison with last year.

The company has also announced that the launch of MID products is not currently in MSI's interest area, but the MID market would probably be hit in June 2009, when Intel too delivers a second generation MID platform.

Hsu added that there is a 50 percent shortage of notebook batteries and Intel's Atom processor. The shortage is likely to be resolved by the end of the third quarter of 2008.