Taiwanese GPU giant ASRock recently announced its plans to move its manufacturing operations out of China in order to avoid the 10% tariff increase imposed by the United States on Chinese goods. Industry insiders point out that the new tariff has only accelerated the company’s departure from China, with the fundamental issue lying in the high cost of doing business.
ASRock, a Taiwanese graphics card manufacturer, stated in an email response to PC Magazine that they will need some time to transition their manufacturing to other countries or regions in response to the 10% tariff applicable to GPUs and other products. Additionally, the power supplies produced by ASRock in China have already been subjected to a 25% tariff.
Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) and Video Processors, commonly known as “graphics cards” in mainland China, are coprocessors used for image and graphic computing tasks, widely employed in personal computers, workstations, and various mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets.
PC Magazine is an American computer magazine that was published from February 3, 1982, to January 2009, with its online version launching at the end of 1994, and headquartered in New York City, USA.
ASRock did not specify where they will relocate to, only mentioning plans to “work with manufacturers in Vietnam and Taiwan,” but the transition of production to other markets may take time, possibly even several years. They stated that during the transition period, they may absorb some of the costs and adjust prices to reflect the increased costs.
Mr. Cao, a technology industry insider in Shenzhen, stated in an interview with Radio Free Asia on Monday (February 10th) that ASRock had long planned to withdraw from China, and the new tariffs have simply hastened their exit. He remarked, “The main issue is not the increase in US tariffs; this is probably just the last straw due to rising costs. The high cost of doing business in Shenzhen has led many large enterprises to relocate. The business environment is the biggest cost.”
According to their official website, ASRock was established in 2002, primarily engaged in motherboard development and production, and is the third-largest motherboard brand globally. Since 2008, they have been part of Pegatron Corporation. ASRock is headquartered in Taipei and has branch offices in Europe, the US, and Japan.
On November 17, 2024, impacted by the US ban on semiconductor exports to China, the world’s second-largest graphics card manufacturer, PC Partner, announced the relocation of its headquarters from Hong Kong to Singapore. The company successfully listed on the Singapore Exchange (SGX) mainboard on November 15. Additionally, PC Partner’s graphics card production lines will be moved from the mainland to Indonesia.
PC Partner’s primary production facilities were located in Dongguan City and Nanjing City in Guangdong Province and Jiangsu Province, respectively, with Dongguan accounting for approximately 67% of production capacity and Nanjing for about 33%.
On October 31, 2024, Taiwan’s largest LCD panel manufacturer, Innolux, announced the sale of its Nanjing factory to the management committee of the Nanjing Jiangning Economic and Technological Development Zone.