Taiwanese hardware giant ASUSTeK says demand for GPUs used to mine cryptocurrency is “disappearing,” as is around 10% of demand for personal computers.

Speaking on the company’s first quarter earnings call, co-CEO SY Hsu said the drop in demand for GPUs was caused by the crypto industry’s response to criticism of its energy consumption. They are moving away from proof-of-work to proof-of-space – verifiable creation of data taking up space on a storage medium – as a means of token mining.

The register imagine that this week’s dips in crytpo values ​​could further reduce demand for coin crushing kit.

But we digress. Hsu said ASUS was not bothered by the loss of its crypto customers, as their exit from the market means prices have normalized. The co-CEO predicted that next year will see an increase in sales of gaming laptops – a product he says is seen by young people as an important piece of home entertainment kit.

But the company expects the overall PC market to return to its slight pre-COVID sales decline. Second-quarter forecasts suggest investors should brace for a 10% drop in PC sales quarter over quarter and a drop in component sales of between 10 and 15 points.

Hsu also turned his attention to supply chain issues and said silicon is no longer ASUS’ main problem.

“As far as integrated circuits are concerned, supply is at a manageable level,” he said – with the exception of power management chips. Shortages of camera components and printed circuit board supplies are the new bottlenecks that ASUS is trying to eliminate.

The same goes for problems in US seaports.

“We have seen significant port congestion in the United States or a shortage of containers and truckers,” Hsu said. “The current situation is not getting worse, but the constraints remain. Therefore, whether you look at shipping rates or air freight, the cost remains high. Of course, high shipping costs create pressure on costs for us. But still, everything is at the expected level and manageable.”

ASUS posted revenue of NT$128 billion (US$4.3 billion) for its first quarter, an 18% year-on-year jump. Net profit was NT$10.4 billion, up 7% year-on-year.

Executives told investors the second quarter could be tough — in part because China’s broad COVID-19 lockdowns would reduce sales and see inventory levels rise. But the company believes that once the third-quarter buying season rolls around, having an extra product on hand will become a growth driver. ®