The gaming laptop market has been seen to be a greener pasture for PC makers over recent years. However the indications from Taiwan are that competition is starting to heat up in this area, meaning customers have greater brand choice of this breed of PC and are becoming more price sensitive.
DigiTimes reports that due to the competition MSI is expecting "to see its revenues from the gaming segment start to weaken". Of course MSI isn't going to sit still and to defend its position and it "has been offering price-cut promotions and raising its marketing expenses".
In the battle on its home turf in Taiwan, it is noted that MSI's mainstream gaming laptops cost between NT$32,000-50,000 (where NT$50,000 is approx £1,000). Recently ASUS, which was previously chipping away at the lower end with prices of around NT$30,000, has expanded its offerings to include NT$40,000-50,000 models in direct competition with MSI. ASUS isn't the only PC systems maker which has noted the richer pickings in gaming laptops and we have seen lots of examples of such machines launched at recent tradeshows and exhibitions.
Acer launched an extensive range of Predator branded gaming devices at IFA recently. HEXUS reviewed the Acer Predator XR341CK gaming monitor, had hands on time with the Predator 8 GT-810 gaming tablet and looked with interest at the overclockable Predator Z35 G-Sync monitor. However we have yet to get any of the Predator laptops in the labs. It is thought that Acer gaming laptop prices might be the most competitively priced of all. Of course other vendors, such as Gigabyte, Dell and Lenovo, produce gaming laptops and have been refreshing their ranges in the wake of the Intel Skylake launch.
Looking back at MSI, DigiTimes reports that its revenues and profits were down sequentially in Q2 and this year's H1 results worse than those from 2014. Its motherboard business has suffered losses in the face of competition but its high-end graphics cards share has risen.
