Mindfactory, the German PC hardware retailer that is best known to some visitors as being one of the few that publishes data on how well its products have sold (e.g., “over 80,970” units for the AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D), will be filing for bankruptcy next week, according to new information shared by Igor Wallossek of Igor’s Lab.
“Apparently, bankruptcy is to be filed for next week. I cannot speak about the background, it is extremely sensitive. I have known about it since Friday,” reads a machine translation of a forum post that Wallossek published yesterday, one that goes on to warn news sites not to sensationalize his words.
“The fact that filing for bankruptcy does not mean bankruptcy should actually be clear to anyone who knows about it, but many still equate the two to create drama,” he clarified. “The fact that I wrote ‘allegedly’ is a clear limitation of the statement, but many deliberately overlook such nuances or ignore them because they do not fit into the sensationalist portrayal.”
Still, there seems to be many people out there who seem convinced now that Mindfactory may be closing. Per a discussion on the ComputerBase forums, which was sparked off by a customer inquiring as to why many items were no longer available:
- …what’s going on at MF? All of a sudden, all 30 items on my wish list were no longer available. If you click on printers in the shop, there’s only copy paper. Smartphones without a contract 6 items. Input devices 20, TV and video cards 2, cables/adapters 15, etc.
- As Igor wrote in his last statement, it happens quickly. If the credit insurer (probably Allianz because they have a monopoly) thinks the company is not getting a limit or only certain or too small amounts to order on account from wholesalers, then things quickly get tight.
- The fact that Mindfactory is finished is certainly not due to a lack of sales or to a fundamentally too low margin on the hardware market…It is, as has often been the case, due to poor management. The management has most likely made unfavorable decisions in the past.
- The failure to launch the RX9000 at MF is further proof, right? It would be strange to restructure the shop now of all times, then the 2 big X3Ds next week and then you would have had ages to restructure the shop. There isn’t much coming on the hardware front this year.
- Does anyone really believe the fairy tale of an online shop restructuring that drastically limits the range of products on offer for the launch of the new generation of graphics cards? Especially in combination with a lack of denial regarding press inquiries?
“We are currently restructuring our store, which is why we have so few items in stock at the moment,” reads an email that a redditor allegedly received from Mindfactory. “If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.”