Gigazone International has remained unprofitable because of the declining PC industry, while GSmart Mobile Taiwan has faced intense competition.

Gigabyte Technology Co, the world's second-largest motherboard maker, plans to suspend the operations of two subsidiaries, due to continued losses and the competitive handset industry.

"It is part of our corporate restructuring plan... The board of directors will accelerate the discussion and make an official announcement in the next few days," Gigabyte investor relations division director K.J. Sun told Taipei Times.

According to earlier reports, Gigabyte would shut down GSmart Mobile Taiwan and Gigazone International Co Ltd, which are both fully owned subsidiaries.

CES showcase

In the meantime, Gigabyte is preparing to showcase its full series of Aorus gaming brand products including notebooks featuring Intel's latest Kaby Lake platform and new motherboards using 200-series chipsets at CES 2017. The motherboards will begin mass shipments in January.

The company will unveil its latest Z270-based Aorus gaming motherboards and has adopted several designs that are able to satisfy gamers' demand such as overclocking and audio performance.

Gigabyte has also been promoting its gaming notebooks in markets such as Europe, North America, China, South Korea and Southeast Asia.

Gigabyte established GSmart in 2010 to expand the parent company's reach by developing its own handset brand. The subsidiary later transformed its business model to the manufacture of smartphones for other handset brands, such as Motorola.

Gigazone was formed in 2006 to develop PC peripherals.

However, the two companies have been in the red over the past few years due to intensified competition in the smartphone market and the declining PC industry.