> and even $0.01 per mobo shipped could be millions of dollars in lost profit.

Gigabyte shipped 4.8 million MBs in the first quarter.

Assuming they sell 20 million MBs in a year, how does a $0.01 additional component cause $1 million in losses? By my math, it's 200k per year.

Further, what restricts gigabyte from raising the price of their MB by $0.10? or even $1 to accommodate the various $0.01 components they might need per board? Do you think the market wouldn't bear such a price variance for $200 boards?