MPC - the personal computer maker formerly known as Micron Electronics - has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

The company says operations will continue while its business is reorganized. But earlier in the week, at least one customer was told the company is no longer providing replacement parts for machines.

Today, MPC filed voluntary petitions for relief and reorganization under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code in United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. Based in Nampa, Idaho, the company purchased Gateway Inc.'s professional business division in October 2007 for approximately $90m - before Gateway was swallowed by Taiwan giant Acer Inc.

"Unforeseen issues surrounding our integration of the Gateway Professional business unit, combined with adapting the operations of our manufacturing partner to additional customized requirements have proven more challenging than originally anticipated, and have contributed to extensive losses. We evaluated all strategic alternatives, and concluded that the filing was necessary at this time,” reads a canned statement from MPC CEO John Yeros.

MPC's stock and warrants were delisted from the NYSE Alternext US LLC exchange effective November 4. The company says it does not foresee any distribution to equity holders in conjunction with the bankruptcy case.

On November, an MPC educational customer phoned the company to ask about a laptop that was returned for repairs three weeks before. "The support rep said he'd been given a script he had to read me," this customer tells The Reg. "It said 'Due to issues with suppliers we aren't able to send out any replacement parts.'"

According to the customer, the rep said this would be the case for "weeks". The customer, who purchased 25 laptops from MPC roughly a year ago, was also told that his laptop could not be returned to him until certain issues had been resolved.

MPC had been selling PCs since 1991. In June 2001, it was sold by parent company Micron Technology, and in December of that year, it changed its from Micron Electronics to MPC. ®