Avnet accuses Arm chip slinger Ampere of screwing it over on server deal

Arizona electronics supplier Avnet has accused California semiconductor design firm Ampere Computing of going against its word and backing out of a server purchasing deal.

As Avnet recounts in its lawsuit [PDF], brought against Ampere in northern Cali this month, the dispute began in early 2021 when Ampere is said to have been looking for a way to increase the revenue it derives from selling its Arm-based Altra processors.

Ampere, the complaint explains, settled on a strategy of issuing purchase orders to original design manufacturers (ODMs) for barebones servers. These servers – so-called level six machines, meaning they come with an integrated motherboard and chassis but lack a CPU, memory, and other components – could accept Altra processors and then be placed with original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), system integrators, and end users.

To seed the market with Altra-ready servers, Ampere would turn to Gigabyte, a Taiwan-based ODM.

Ampere, acquired in March by ...