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selinz
Well, getting rid of the bean counter as CEO is a good thing strategically, ...
ibm221
lmao, good catch
Former IBM, Lenovo exec takes the helm at AMD
Dylan McGrath
8/25/2011 10:27 AM EDT
SAN FRANCISCO—Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD)'s board of directors Thursday (Aug. 25) appointed as president and CEO Rory Read, a longtime IBM exec who most recently was president and chief operating officer at PC vendor Lenovo Group Ltd.
The appointment of Read, 49, caps a seven-month search for a permanent CEO after Dirk Meyer resigned in January under pressure from AMD's board. Read was also appointed to AMD's board of directors, the company said.
Read spent 23 years at IBM, where he held a broad range of management positions, AMD said. He moved in 2006 to Lenovo--which bought IBM's PC business. In 2009, he was promoted to president and COO.
In a conference call with analysts following the CEO appointment, Bruce Claflin, chairman of AMD's board of directors, described Read as a proven, respected leader with a record of driving profitable growth and transformation.
"He is a passionate leader who has energy and enthusiasm to match his drive and determination," Claflin said. "He's a competitor who loves to win and hates to lose. And, while he is a skilled operator, he also understands the importance of sound strategic thinking in order to have long-term success.
As a former customer, Read will bring the voice of the customer inside AMD, reinforcing its position as a strategic partner, Claflin said.
Read described AMD as a unique company in high-tech , with innovation, talent, unique IP and room to grow. "There's a proud history at AMD, and it's great set of technologies, a strong team and clearly unlimited potential," Read said. "We have a rich history at AMD of delivering the next big thing first."
Read said AMD has shipped more than 12 million Fusion accelerated processing units since the company launched the product in the fourth quarter of 2010. AMD has growth potential in its core PC processor space as well as other markets such as mobility and cloud computing, he said.
"This is a changing industry," Read said. "There's no doubt about it. But change is good for AMD. And this change really plays to our strength as an innovation challenger in this space."
Craig Berger, an analyst with FBR Capital Markets, described Read as a credible "new guard" executive who has spent the past five years in the trenches at Lenovo. "We do think Mr. Read can and will leverage his relationships at Lenovo to help drive AMD’s sales, and at IBM to help drive AMD’s R&D and foundry strategies," Berger wrote in a report circulated Thursday.
But Berger said AMD's business model remains structurally challenged as Microsoft's move to enable the next generation of Windows to run on ARM-based processors and the rise of ARM-based tablets cut into AMD's consumer and PC business segments.
"The basic question to be answered is whether AMD will remain the firm number two to Intel's x86 processors, or whether Nvidia and other ARM on Windows suppliers will now become the alternative to Intel’s x86, and what role does an AMD have in an ARM on Windows world," Berger wrote. "These questions, and AMD’s response to this challenging situation, will not be resolved or clarified anytime soon.
Vijay Rakesh, a semiconductor analyst at financial services firm Sterne Agee, said the appointment of Read should resolve the drag on AMD's share price that the company's long CEO search created.
"We believe the appointment—a smart move—should help AMD refocus on its markets and strategy," Rakesh said. Wall Street's initial reaction to the news as been positive overall, Rakesh said.
Paul McWilliams, editor of technology investment newsletter Next Inning Technology Research, said Read's Lenovo background is a good pedigree for the role of AMD CEO. Citing research from International Data Corp., McWilliams said 32 percent of PCs bought in China are from Lenovo.
"This positioning fits well with the strategy AMD began executing several years ago that led to PCs using its processors to develop a very strong share in the Chinese Internet Cafe markets," McWilliams wrote in a report. This strategy has given AMD more favorable brand name awareness in China than it has in most developed markets, McWilliams said.
Thomas Seifert, who served as AMD's interim CEO since January, will return to his role as senior vice president and chief financial officer, AMD said.
The appointment of Read, 49, caps a seven-month search for a permanent CEO after Dirk Meyer resigned in January under pressure from AMD's board. Read was also appointed to AMD's board of directors, the company said.
Read spent 23 years at IBM, where he held a broad range of management positions, AMD said. He moved in 2006 to Lenovo--which bought IBM's PC business. In 2009, he was promoted to president and COO.
In a conference call with analysts following the CEO appointment, Bruce Claflin, chairman of AMD's board of directors, described Read as a proven, respected leader with a record of driving profitable growth and transformation.
"He is a passionate leader who has energy and enthusiasm to match his drive and determination," Claflin said. "He's a competitor who loves to win and hates to lose. And, while he is a skilled operator, he also understands the importance of sound strategic thinking in order to have long-term success.
As a former customer, Read will bring the voice of the customer inside AMD, reinforcing its position as a strategic partner, Claflin said.
Read described AMD as a unique company in high-tech , with innovation, talent, unique IP and room to grow. "There's a proud history at AMD, and it's great set of technologies, a strong team and clearly unlimited potential," Read said. "We have a rich history at AMD of delivering the next big thing first."
Read said AMD has shipped more than 12 million Fusion accelerated processing units since the company launched the product in the fourth quarter of 2010. AMD has growth potential in its core PC processor space as well as other markets such as mobility and cloud computing, he said.
"This is a changing industry," Read said. "There's no doubt about it. But change is good for AMD. And this change really plays to our strength as an innovation challenger in this space."
Craig Berger, an analyst with FBR Capital Markets, described Read as a credible "new guard" executive who has spent the past five years in the trenches at Lenovo. "We do think Mr. Read can and will leverage his relationships at Lenovo to help drive AMD’s sales, and at IBM to help drive AMD’s R&D and foundry strategies," Berger wrote in a report circulated Thursday.
But Berger said AMD's business model remains structurally challenged as Microsoft's move to enable the next generation of Windows to run on ARM-based processors and the rise of ARM-based tablets cut into AMD's consumer and PC business segments.
"The basic question to be answered is whether AMD will remain the firm number two to Intel's x86 processors, or whether Nvidia and other ARM on Windows suppliers will now become the alternative to Intel’s x86, and what role does an AMD have in an ARM on Windows world," Berger wrote. "These questions, and AMD’s response to this challenging situation, will not be resolved or clarified anytime soon.
Vijay Rakesh, a semiconductor analyst at financial services firm Sterne Agee, said the appointment of Read should resolve the drag on AMD's share price that the company's long CEO search created.
"We believe the appointment—a smart move—should help AMD refocus on its markets and strategy," Rakesh said. Wall Street's initial reaction to the news as been positive overall, Rakesh said.
Paul McWilliams, editor of technology investment newsletter Next Inning Technology Research, said Read's Lenovo background is a good pedigree for the role of AMD CEO. Citing research from International Data Corp., McWilliams said 32 percent of PCs bought in China are from Lenovo.
"This positioning fits well with the strategy AMD began executing several years ago that led to PCs using its processors to develop a very strong share in the Chinese Internet Cafe markets," McWilliams wrote in a report. This strategy has given AMD more favorable brand name awareness in China than it has in most developed markets, McWilliams said.
Thomas Seifert, who served as AMD's interim CEO since January, will return to his role as senior vice president and chief financial officer, AMD said.
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goafrit
8/25/2011 2:16 PM EDT
Good luck. But the problem is not a new face. It is Intel. The last I checked, Intel is still there. Let us see what he will do...
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elctrnx_lyf
8/25/2011 2:44 PM EDT
Good to see that AMD has found their CEO after a 8 month long search. Hope he could bring AMD to a better position in the future.
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wilber_xbox
8/28/2011 1:08 PM EDT
yes, i was think the same thing. Its finally over, so back to work for AMD.
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Dr DSP
8/25/2011 4:54 PM EDT
Here is a good chance to give the new CEO some ideas about what needs to be changed at AMD. Anyone else want to volunteer their three ideas?
1) Don't bet the farm on IBM.
2) It's not just a PC world any more. Look for partners and create some new markets you can dominate.
3) Look for alternatives to just adding more cores.
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asimecs
8/25/2011 5:44 PM EDT
Frontal attack never work if your enemy is Intel. We have tried it before at other places. Cyrix failed. Transmeta failed.
Please remember how Intel was transformed from a memory company into CPU company. May be a metamorphosis is needed for AMD also. Why do you have to follow Intel? I have seen a lot of smart people in AMD. You can totally create something new & OWN the market!
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junko.yoshida
8/25/2011 6:42 PM EDT
Has anybody out there ever worked for Roy Read? Curious minds want to know.
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help.fulguy
8/25/2011 8:06 PM EDT
Dylan, Sad to see that there is no one at EETimes doing a Proof read, before you post the article. In the 3rd Para, it says Lenovo bought AMD's PC Business. What? Should be IBM.
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junko.yoshida
8/25/2011 11:01 PM EDT
We apoligze for the mistake we made. The story is now corrected. Lenove bought IBM's PC business in 2005.
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the lavender fan
8/29/2011 7:31 PM EDT
"He moved in 2006 to Lenovo -- which bought IBM's PC business In 2009......"
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ibm221
8/29/2011 8:36 PM EDT
lmao, good catch
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dylan.mcgrath
8/26/2011 12:51 AM EDT
Thanks for pointing out this error. My apologies.
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Raghuraman
8/25/2011 10:51 PM EDT
AMD may well go back into OLPC project - not One Laptop Per Child, One Loss Per Ceo ;)
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p_g
8/26/2011 4:14 AM EDT
For that purpose Intel is not doing too good in tablet market. Good time to gain that market.
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help.fulguy
8/26/2011 1:11 PM EDT
@p_g, Other than Apple, who the heck is making money in tablet. If you hear the wildly successul Tegra2 (as per lot of analysts out there including EET), even their Tegra revenue in Q2'11 was "STEADY". Its the battle of the OS in Tablet and only ios is winning and Android & Win are losing. HW has nothing to do with it.
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dylan.mcgrath
8/26/2011 3:10 PM EDT
@help.fulguy- great point. Several firms are chasing the tablet market with ARM-based processors. If they have a compelling product, they kind of have no choice. But nobody is making money except Apple. Nothing is going to change until an OEM comes up with a true competitor to the iPad. If and until that happens, these guys are fighting it out in the trenches for design wins that ultimately mean very little revenue.
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giuann
8/26/2011 9:11 PM EDT
As long we have the current system of litigation with judges that think they know the truth even better they think that they are the repository of the thrust AMD has little or none chances of getting bigger.
Intel needs AMD for antitrust reasons and will not give them to much space to grow using the legal system.
The choice is, in my amble opinion, wrong because the new CEO will try to keep AMD a PC chip maker.
The CEO should be e person that wants conquer the future with innovative ideas knowing that many stockholder will not like it.
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daleste
8/27/2011 7:56 PM EDT
Is that an up to date picture? He looks like he is in his twenties, not 49. I guess he can help AMD to not look so old.
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dylan.mcgrath
8/29/2011 4:56 PM EDT
The photo is at least fairly recent (within the past few years) as near as I can tell. You can take a look at the official photo on the AMD website.
http://www.amd.com/us/aboutamd/corporate-information/executives/Pages/rory-read.aspx
I agree with you. He looks a lot younger than 49. More power to him.
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Charles.Desassure
8/28/2011 12:46 AM EDT
Thanks for the article. It is alway good to get new leadership with good ideas. Good move by AMD.
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wilber_xbox
8/28/2011 1:07 PM EDT
The recent trend that i have seen with the new hired CEOs is that they go back to doing what they were doing before joining. Nokia, Canon, HP are some examples.
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sureshtheory
8/29/2011 3:11 AM EDT
With new CEO aboard AMD should explore new strategies and shd bounce back... all the best for read... you got a big task ahead..
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hm
8/29/2011 3:53 AM EDT
Read will have to learn many new things and we wish he come at par and produce results very fast. He may also have to align with other big player like Apple or Google.
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selinz
8/31/2011 1:34 PM EDT
Well, getting rid of the bean counter as CEO is a good thing strategically, although I'm guessing having him there was good for short term profits. I saw a quote recently, "An economist knows the price of everything but value of nothing." While both extremes of that statement are, I'm sure, a gross exageration, it does point out the focus that a CEO can have. I don't think anyone would call Jobs an economist...
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