Maybe Jerry Sanders should return to AMD Sad to say, but AMD is on the ropes again. The troubled chip maker is facing losses, a cash crunch, share erosion and mighty Intel. What should AMD do now?	Mark LaPedus Semiconductor Editor
1. AMD is floating some $2.2 billion in notes. My assessment: AMD is highly leveraged and may become a house of cards. Notes are a good short-term solution, but AMD really needs to develop a new and innovative processor line--again. Opteron was a winner. But the company has been resting on its laurels since the intro of Opteron. AMD's next-gen processor, dubbed Barcelona, just doesn't excite me. A real snoozer. Come on AMD! You can do better than that! 2. To keep up with Intel, AMD has got major fab projects in Germany, India and New York. My assessment: AMD still acts like an IDM. Let's get real and stop pretending. How is AMD going to fund these fab projects? They should drop fab plans in India and New York. Focus on the fab in Germany. Outsource more chips to Chartered, IBM and Samsung. 3. Some say AMD should go the private-equity route. My assessment: That's the company's only route right now. I hate private equity, but AMD won't last the year unless Silver Lake or Francisco Partners jumps in to save them. 4. Perhaps AMD should get acquired by IBM or a member of IBM's ''fab club.'' My assessment: IBM is a bad choice. IBM is a great IP firm, but it never really understood the semi business. Here's a crazy idea: Samsung wants to go toe-to-toe against Intel. How about Samsung buying AMD? However, I'm afraid Intel would kick Samsung's ass in processors. Samsung is a mere one-hit commodity wonder. 5. One more crazy idea: Maybe Jerry Sanders could return to AMD. My assessment: He couldn't do any worse than AMD's current management, which squandered its technology lead over Intel. What a waste. Posted by Mark LaPedus on Apr 24, 2007 10:59 PM in Semiconductors

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