Gigabyte Technology shipped 4.9 million motherboards in the first quarter, only slightly behind Asustek Computer's five million units, allowing the company to have a chance to beat the long-time leader in terms of shipments in 2013, according to source from channel retailers.

However, Asustek's component purchasing advantage and market share leadership in the high-end segment will still enable the motherboard giant to see a better gross margin than Gigabyte.

Asustek and Gigabyte together shipped about 40 million motherboards in 2012, accounting for 45-47% of the total shipments worldwide and their combined market share in China even reached 60% in the year.

ASRock was the third-largest motherboard vendor in 2012, shipping seven million units, followed by Micro-Star International (MSI) with six million units, Elitegroup Computer System (ECS) and Biostar around 4.9-5.1 million units and Foxconn Electronics (Hon Hai Precision Industry) around 2.8-3 million units.

Intel shipped five million motherboards in 2012, but will phase out from the industry in 2013.

Currently, Asustek has shipment leads in China and the US, while Gigabyte has good performances in both Latin America and Southeast Asia. Asustek is set to ship 22-24 million motherboards for 2013, while Gigabyte is aiming to challenge a volume of 20 million units.