MPC Computers Shutting Down

davidphogan74 writes "MPC Computers (formerly Micron's computer division) notified the Idaho Department of Labor in a letter on 12/29/2008 that it would terminate its remaining employees. The company had been operating under the protection of a Chapter 11 bankruptcy since November, after it laid off 200 employees in October. MPC said 147 employees would be terminated immediately and 51 would be retained while the company liquidates its assets. Last year, MPC bought the professional business unit of PC company Gateway, which itself had been bought by Acer earlier that year. MPC had sold business technology hardware to mid-sized business, government agencies, and education organizations since 1991."

Comments

RIP Micron

[Gothmolly]

Micron always made rock solid, good performing machines. They even had a high-tech name. Anyone know why they failed?

Re:RIP Micron

[Anonymous Coward]

They only appealed to an elitist community.

Re:RIP Micron

[halivar]

MPC made all PC's that had "Micron" written on them. That's because the "M" stood for "Micron."

"Micron Technology" (the semiconductor manufacturer) created MPC to handle the PC business aspect.

Re:RIP Micron

[Calmiche]

Living in Boise, ID, maybe I can shed some light on this.

MPC has been steadily going downhill for a couple of years. I didn't work for MPC, but I had several customers who did. The gossip from them is a tale of outsourcing gone bad. MPC used to assemble PC's here in Idaho. A couple years ago, they outsourced most of the manufacturing overseas. Instead of building a new factory here, they built in China. All went well for awhile, then the quality started to slip. Companies stopped ordering. There wasn't enough money left to bring the manufacturing back to the states. Finally, the high oil prices of last year destroyed the profit margin they were making by outsourcing the manufacturing.

They have been in a death spiral ever since. They hoped to fix it by declaring Chapter 11 a couple months ago but that obviously didn't work.

*Disclaimer:
Please be aware that all my information is third hand and may not reflect other peoples experiences.

Re:RIP Micron

[jjhall]

In my opinion the whole spiral started with Joel Kocher. When I started employment at MPC (was called MicronPC.com at the time) in early '00, they had a rock solid product, and were in the midst of transitioning to a PC and Internet hosting company. Kocher introduced a free bare-bones PC with a long-term Internet service contract.

Kocher was convinced the PC was dead and that hosting was the way to go. Up to that point Micron PC was known as the Cadillac of PCs, using good quality parts, a good non-bloatware system load, etc. Once this piece of cheapest-possible junk was introduced, the reputation of the company, as well as the internal focus on quality went out the window. All of the company effort was focused on expanding the hosting business at the expense of the hardware side of the business.

After a while Kocher spun off Hostpro and left the PC manufacturing side of the business to die. It was picked up by an investment group and was never able to fully recover. While I can't confirm it, rumor stated that the company could have turned around but the investment company siphoned off every cent of profit rather than re-investing it back into the business for long-term growth. Coupled with leadership that (I feel) were more interested in short-term balance sheets than long term success doomed the company to failure.

I was laid off in July of '06, and haven't looked back. I made it through more layoffs than I could count and the stress of wondering if I'd have a job every couple of months was horrible. The layoff that finally caught me was more of a relief than a concern. I should have looked for something else far prior to that but I was convinced the company could recover and then I'd be in a good position for advancement.

The way I see it the company has been floating for the last 6+ years, and someone finally decided to hit the flush handle. I have quite a few friends that were still employed there that have lost their jobs in the last month. Its a tough job market right now and this isn't going to make it any easier.

Ex-Gateway customer.

[saintlupus]

Well, this certainly makes me feel secure about the hundreds and hundreds of Gateway computers we've got at work. I'm sure warranty repair parts will be easily available.

*cough*

--saint

Bad Business Manners!

[ClaraBow]

They didn't even notify their customers. We had ordered hundreds of PCs (all-in-ones) for a new South Tower at our hospital and they didn't even have the courtesy to give is a head up! Just Plain rude!

Re:Yup, cheap

[foniksonik]

Take a look at their PROFIT share and you'll change your tune.

Re:Not completely familiar with MPCs warranty stuf

[jalefkowit]

I feel bad for the employees at the company that were effectively jobless days after christmas, with no warning of their impending 'layoff'. I find their letter justifying why the couldn't give 60 days notice unsettling. They're admitting they screwed up, and i'm sure their former employees are comforted by this fact, right? I hope they ban together and demand those 60 days paid, as is required by law.

Indeed, and now there is even a template now on how to do just that:

A day after dozens of protesting workers walked out of the Republic Windows & Doors plant with their demands met, they said they hope their triumph will inspire others nationwide to take similar stands against employers if need be.

"Sometimes people are scared to say something to big companies," said Ricardo Caceres, who spent his first night in his own bed after sleeping on a flatbed truck in the plant during the six day sit-in. "But we stood up - opened everyone's eyes." ...

About 200 of the 240 laid-off workers occupied the doors and windows manufacturer last week, demanding severance and accrued vacation pay after Republic gave them just three days notice before closing the plant down...

Wednesday's agreement means the laid-off workers will each get about $7,000 in accrued vacation pay and eight weeks of salary. Each will also get two months paid health care.