Taiwan?s first-tier motherboard makers ? Asustek Computer, Elitegroup Computer Systems (ECS), Gigabyte Technology and Micro-Star International (MSI) ? shipped a combined total of 6.65 million motherboards in July, up 8.5% sequentially. July shipments from the four makers were slightly lower than the market expectation of 9-10% growth, as the companies were affected by power shortages in China. With back-to-school demand expected to provide a boost for the first-tier makers sales, August shipments are estimated to grow at least 10% sequentially, to 7.3 million units in August.