ServerWorks short on chipsets
The company, which specializes in chipsets for Intel servers, says it will have trouble meeting demand through March, a situation that could crimp server supplies.
The Santa Clara, Calif.-based company said that it had a problem with manufacturing its Grand Champion chipset for two-processor servers in adequate volumes. The problem has been fixed, but supplies likely will be tight for the month.
The chipset shortage could hamper server supply. Although not a household name, ServerWorks is the dominant power in the market for server chipsets, which serve as the main conduit between the microprocessor and the rest of the computer. Hewlett-Packard, Dell Computer and IBM, among others, use ServerWorks chipsets in various computers. Intel has begun to compete more vigorously against the company, which is a subsidiary of Broadcom, in the past year.
A representative for ServerWorks said the problem did not affect the quality or functionality of the chipset. Instead, yields, or the number of good chips per wafer, were lower than expected. A change in the manufacturing methodology has changed that.
"Although supply of the affected parts will be somewhat constrained through March, we expect our shipments to (original equipment manufacturers) to be back to normal by April," Raju Vegesna, chief executive of ServerWorks, said in a statement.