AMD to Slash Nearly a Third of its Workforce

[Assimilator]

I wonder if we'll see an independent ATI again.

 

[Assimilator]

Also, inb4 "this is all Intel's fault because their anticompetitive practices killed AMD".

 

[Aquinus]

I wonder if we'll see an independent ATI again.

AMD owns the right and patents to all of ATi hardware. Starting from scratch requires a lot of investors with a lot of money. That is no easy task.

Also, inb4 "this is all Intel's fault because their anticompetitive practices killed AMD".

You can believe that, but AMD's marketing strategy blows and that is half of the reason why they aren't doing well. I'm not saying Intel has nothing to do with it, but AMD is targeting the wrong audience because we (overclockers and gamers,) don't need to be convinced. We use what ever looks good. It's the average person who needs to say, "I want a computer with AMD inside, not Intel." Intel has always been great at marketing to a general audience, AMD has not.

 

[xenocide]

Without competition they can charge whatever they want for their product.

And people won't buy them, simple fact. You can claim Intel would charge $1000 for entry level CPU's, but the fact is people will not buy $1200-1500 computers if that's their only option. Especially not with phones now easily able to browse the Internet and provide entertainment. Like I said, Intel could not get away with that because it would allow other companies to spearhead the advancement of ARM CPU's into the desktop and laptop space that Intel would have monopolized. It's foolish to think Intel doesn't already charge basically what they want for their products.

 

[Wrigleyvillain]

Also, inb4 "this is all Intel's fault because their anticompetitive practices killed AMD".

Edit your last post instead of dropping a double, for Christ's sake.

And as to the comment about Apple, as has been pointed out again many times here already, no company in this day and age actually aims for a true monopoly as that just leads to hot water with the Feds.

 

[trickson]

Also, inb4 "this is all Intel's fault because their anti competitive practices killed AMD".

No this is NOT! First off this is AMD's own undoing! Yes it is! AMD has failed to get the word out about there products! Plain and simple. I am sick and tired of people thinking that Intel is to blame for the failings of AMD! Let me try to make my point as clear as I can, AMD has NO marketing at all! NOT one Commercial not one radio add, Not one news paper add NOTHING AT ALL! Just how the fuck is this Intel's fault? Intel ADVERTISES! Now this crap about anti competitive practices was settled when AMD WON there lawsuit against Intel, Just what did AMD do after that? NOT A FUCKING THING! AMD's CEO's have dropped the ball! All they are doing now for PR is stunts like you see here on TPU Over clocking to the extreme and selling chips that are already jacked up to the MAX But are no faster than Intel's offerings at a lower TDP and wattage and speed!
There are many here that think if AMD goes under that Intel will have some kind of Monopoly and that we will be at the mercy of Intel, Well I just don't buy it pall! First off America will step in and break that shit up, second AMD will not go under just like this. They will have to restructure and do some hard changes to turn things around, But AMD will not be going under. And even IF they do so what? some one will buy them up and do what is needed to get there NAME on the MAP!
Look if you want to sell your product to people, Then YOU have to let them people KNOW about it. AMD has just plain failed at doing this. What? AMD doesn't need to advertise? Well just how is any one going to know they are even in the game? It is so stupid and ignorant to think that AMD is just a chip maker than needs not apply! I watch AMD stock go down down down, I watch AMD change there CEO's like that will work. I just do not get it AMD is just stupid! This is there fault for not advertising there product. It is Economics 101 and they for some reason (I DO NOT KNOW WHAT) do not get it! Intel is top dog because I see Intel every PLACE! Wake and Smell the coffee AMD or at least get some one that knows how to make adds for your shit!

 

[Super XP]

Also, inb4 "this is all Intel's fault because their anticompetitive practices killed AMD".

Back in day it was already proven regarding anticompetitive by Intel. But that was way back. It's been all AMD's doing now.

I wonder if we'll see an independent ATI again.

IMO they should have kept ATI as a division of AMD.

 

[Wrigleyvillain]

It's deeper than advertising and even Intel but all these things add up to the mess they are in today.

 

[suraswami]

I would say blame engineering before blaming marketing.

 

[Steevo]

This is normal operating procedure before a sell out/buyout/take over. Cut the workforce to make the company more appealing and easier to manage during the transition, keep the in favor management to reap the bonuses and rewards.


I am starting to feel truly disgusted by AMD. Perhaps back to Intel for me.

 

[Raw]

AMD doomed? Naw...

I'm betting the collapse of AMD isn't going to happen within the next 5 years.
Any takers?

 

[TheMailMan78]

A few nations should take note from AMD. This is how you survive.

AMD is fine people. This is just trimming the fat. They still have great margins.

Now they just need to hire me for marketing.

 

[xenocide]

A few nations should take note from AMD. This is how you survive.

AMD is fine people. This is just trimming the fat. They still have great margins.

Yea austerity is working great for the EU

 

[TheMailMan78]

Yea austerity is working great for the EU

Eventually you run out of other peoples money and you have to live in your means.

 

[xenocide]

Eventually you run out of other peoples money and you have to live in your means.

Tell that to Japan, Norway, Sweden, Iceland, and Germany. All avoided austerity plans and all are doing very, very well. Countries that embraced austerity? Greece, Spain, Ireland, and to a lesser extent England. Not doing so hot.

 

[mtosev]

does this mean that AMD may go under?

 

[TheMailMan78]

Tell that to Japan, Norway, Sweden, Iceland, and Germany. All avoided austerity plans and all are doing very, very well. Countries that embraced austerity? Greece, Spain, Ireland, and to a lesser extent England. Not doing so hot.

Japan is screwed long term. So is Ireland. All you have to do is look at their debt vs GDP to see that. Germany is the one asking Greece, Spain, Ireland to use austerity to get their budgets in order. Norway, Sweden, Iceland never ballooned their national debt much past their GDP. Your argument is null.

Basically anyone in the EU just handed their sovereignty over to Germany in the past 10 years that's doesn't live within their means. They took over Europe without firing a single round. Kudos to the Germans for a take over well done. The one I'm looking forward to is France. They are the next on the short list of economic freeloaders.

Ummmmm

http://www.forbes.com/sites/afontev...azi-uniforms-as-the-imf-downgrades-the-world/

So according to Germany austerity is needed if Greece wants to survive.

does this mean that AMD may go under?

No. AMD still has great margins man. With this trimming of fat it will improve the margins even more.

 

[mtosev]

Germany is not doing so hot btw.
to pay for everything they will have to lower down their own living standards to help other countries. Germany and the german ppl don't shit gold.

 

[xenocide]

Japan is screwed long term. So is Ireland. All you have to do is look at their debt vs GDP to see that. Germany is the one asking Greece, Spain, Ireland to use austerity to get their budgets in order. Norway, Sweden, Iceland never ballooned their national debt much past their GDP. Your argument is null.

Basically anyone in the EU just handed their sovereignty over to Germany in the past 10 years that's doesn't live within their means. They took over Europe without firing a single round. Kudos to the Germans for a take over well done. The one I'm looking forward to is France. They are the next on the short list of economic freeloaders.

Ummmmm

http://www.forbes.com/sites/afontev...azi-uniforms-as-the-imf-downgrades-the-world/

So according to Germany austerity is needed if Greece wants to survive.

I always hear people rip into Japan, but they have everything the US wishes it had, minus a constantly expanding economy. Their "lost years" were better for the people than any recession and depression in US history. They held something like a 4-6% unemployment number with almost no economic growth, and average wages continued to increase at a normal rate, they just didn't have any GDP growth, and somehow that means their economy is shit and their people are doomed. But we're fine with an 8-10%+ unemployment number, massive deficits, and an income gap that has exploded over the last 30 years.

As for Ireland I said they were screwed, unless you meant Iceland, but they are actually doing fine. Their decision to not bail out tons of banks that were considered "too big to fail" has actually helped them quite a bit since their government isn't expanding their debt unnecessarily to reward people who tanked their economy.

Germany is trying to get everyone on the same page and normalize things like retirement age and benefits. Greece was out of control, I will give you that, but that's what happens when your entire bureau on economics is Goldman-Sachs staff members. They had something like a retirement age of 55, guaranteed 4 weeks a year of paid vacation, and pensions for every citizen that paid more than their actual jobs upon retirement--all subsidized by the government. What Germany is requesting is that they adopt the same benefits systems that they have in place, which are still ahead of the United States and most other countries.

As for the Scandanavian countries, their debts never exploded because they never followed the Conservative mantra of cutting taxes and keeping government completely out of peoples lives. Hell, Finland was a flat out Socialist country for decades, and are doing fine these days. By American standards Sweden and Norway are Socialist as well, almost no debt, very effective governments with very generous social programs.

No. AMD still has great margins man. With this trimming of fat it will improve the margins even more.

Eh, they are in the red about $5b and their stock has dropped from ~$8/share to ~$2.75/share over the past 6 months. That's a pretty troubling turn around...

 

[TheMailMan78]

I always hear people rip into Japan, but they have everything the US wishes it had, minus a constantly expanding economy. Their "lost years" were better for the people than any recession and depression in US history. They held something like a 4-6% unemployment number with almost no economic growth, and average wages continued to increase at a normal rate, they just didn't have any GDP growth, and somehow that means their economy is shit and their people are doomed. But we're fine with an 8-10%+ unemployment number, massive deficits, and an income gap that has exploded over the last 30 years.

As for Ireland I said they were screwed, unless you meant Iceland, but they are actually doing fine. Their decision to not bail out tons of banks that were considered "too big to fail" has actually helped them quite a bit since their government isn't expanding their debt unnecessarily to reward people who tanked their economy.

Germany is trying to get everyone on the same page and normalize things like retirement age and benefits. Greece was out of control, I will give you that, but that's what happens when your entire bureau on economics is Goldman-Sachs staff members. They had something like a retirement age of 55, guaranteed 4 weeks a year of paid vacation, and pensions for every citizen that paid more than their actual jobs upon retirement--all subsidized by the government. What Germany is requesting is that they adopt the same benefits systems that they have in place, which are still ahead of the United States and most other countries.

As for the Scandanavian countries, their debts never exploded because they never followed the Conservative mantra of cutting taxes and keeping government completely out of peoples lives. Hell, Finland was a flat out Socialist country for decades, and are doing fine these days. By American standards Sweden and Norway are Socialist as well, almost no debt, very effective governments with very generous social programs.



Eh, they are in the red about $5b and their stock has dropped from ~$8/share to ~$2.75/share over the past 6 months. That's a pretty troubling turn around...

The fact Japans economy is not growing is the exact reason they are a time bomb. You HAVE to have an expanding economy for Keynesian economics to work. Its the WHOLE PREMISE of it. Doesn't matter how good the people are living. One day the bill will be due and all that will end.

Scandinavian countries come close to practicing what they call Austrian economics which doesn't rely on the expansion of debt and economy to survive. They keep their debt to GDP very close (very Smart). To them there is no such thing as ANYTHING to big to fail. Their social programs can survive forever because they pay as they go basically. However they are not pure students of Austrian economics as they are not fully backed by gold (which is fine). As long as they keep the benefits in line with their governmental income (taxes and such) they will be fine. Socialism has nothing to do with it. Its about their style of economics. Some in the US begged to bring this style of economy to the US. (Ron Paul) but that means all the pork in the government would have to be cut. Red and Blues can't have the pork cut. Gotta keep borrowing. Gotta keep the masses happy for votes. I NEVER said we are fine. We are gonna collapse and bring most the world with us If we don't cut down on spending.

I mean really you cannot borrow more and more money with no expansion of the economy to cover the interest that debt will bring. Its just common sense.....and before you go and say "Tax the rich more" let me remind you we have some of the highest corporate taxes in the world and if we taxed the "1%" 100% of their income it STILL wouldn't cover our yearly deficit. The US has two very big problems. 1. Less then 50% of the nation pays into the government. The "Middle Class" pays zip currently because our economy isn't expanding (Thank you progressive taxes and Keynesian economics). They rich pay the bulk of all taxes and the government cannot tax them anymore or they will start moving off shore (Wouldn't you?). Lose them and the economy crashes. 2. The government spends WAY to much money on crap. They know they cannot raise enough taxes to sustain its size so they keep borrowing and 1% economic growth per year combined with WAY LESS then 250,000 new jobs per month (needed to sustain our economy) just means the debt will keep going up until we are devalued again. This isn't a Conservative or liberal narrative. This is just simple economics. Germany knows this and its why its telling these nations to get their spending in line with its income. You can have all the social spending in the world if you want....as long as your economy can support it without a massive yearly deficit.

Also you cannot measure a company purely on stock value. Granted its can be an indicator of SOME things but not the over all health. They (AMD) have been much lower then 2.75 in the past. In 2008 they dropped to 1.82 and are still here today. What you need to look at is margins. As long as AMD is making money they will be around. This big cut in personal will mean bigger margins in the end.

 

[entropy13]

The fact Japans economy is not growing is the exact reason they are a time bomb. You HAVE to have an expanding economy for Keynesian economics to work. Its the WHOLE PREMISE of it. Doesn't matter how good the people are living. One day the bill will be due and all that will end.

Scandinavian countries come close to practicing what they call Austrian economics which doesn't rely on the expansion of debt and economy to survive. They keep their debt to GDP very close (very Smart). To them there is no such thing as ANYTHING to big to fail. Their social programs can survive forever because they pay as they go basically. However they are not pure students of Austrian economics as they are not fully backed by gold (which is fine). As long as they keep the benefits in line with their governmental income (taxes and such) they will be fine. Socialism has nothing to do with it. Its about their style of economics. Some in the US begged to bring this style of economy to the US. (Ron Paul) but that means all the pork in the government would have to be cut. Red and Blues can't have the pork cut. Gotta keep borrowing. Gotta keep the masses happy for votes. I NEVER said we are fine. We are gonna collapse and bring most the world with us If we don't cut down on spending.

I mean really you cannot borrow more and more money with no expansion of the economy to cover the interest that debt will bring. Its just common sense.....and before you go and say "Tax the rich more" let me remind you we have some of the highest corporate taxes in the world and if we taxed the "1%" 100% of their income it STILL wouldn't cover our yearly deficit. The US has two very big problems. 1. Less then 50% of the nation pays into the government. The "Middle Class" pays zip currently because our economy isn't expanding (Thank you progressive taxes and Keynesian economics). They rich pay the bulk of all taxes and the government cannot tax them anymore or they will start moving off shore (Wouldn't you?). Lose them and the economy crashes. 2. The government spends WAY to much money on crap. They know they cannot raise enough taxes to sustain its size so they keep borrowing and 1% economic growth per year combined with WAY LESS then 250,000 new jobs per month (needed to sustain our economy) just means the debt will keep going up until we are devalued again. This isn't a Conservative or liberal narrative. This is just simple economics. Germany knows this and its why its telling these nations to get their spending in line with its income. You can have all the social spending in the world if you want....as long as your economy can support it without a massive yearly deficit.

Also you cannot measure a company purely on stock value. Granted its can be an indicator of SOME things but not the over all health. They (AMD) have been much lower then 2.75 in the past. In 2008 they dropped to 1.82 and are still here today. What you need to look at is margins. As long as AMD is making money they will be around. This big cut in personal will mean bigger margins in the end.

Japan's non-expanding economy is not caused by anything "economic-related", but rather that their workforce is getting older, AND their population growth is actually negative. In other words, not enough women get pregnant.

 

[DannibusX]

Clicks on thread about a technology company downsizing.

Educated on the economies of nations he has never been to.

 

[TheMailMan78]

Clicks on thread about a technology company downsizing.

Educated on the economies of nations he has never been to.

I've been to Japan.

 

[Am*]

AMD is reportedly working to cut its workforce by nearly a third, about 20 to 30 percent, according to sources who spoke with All Things D. That's anywhere between 2,200 to 3,300 jobs. The sources say the cuts could affect employees in engineering and sales, departments that have been spared in previous rounds of cuts. The cuts will be deep enough to show that AMD is scaling back its product offerings. It's likely that the cuts could be announced along with the company's quarterly results due on October 18.

AMD CEO Rory Read is said to have assembled a team of business consultants from McKinsey & Company and BCG to guide the company through the process. McKinsey's will handle the job cuts, while BCG will be consulting on a "grand strategy" that could take the company forward.

Source: All Things D

WOW...Rory Read seriously needs to have his head checked if he thinks getting rid of the engineering department is going to save him any money in the long run. Sales and marketing I could understand, but engineering cuts......at a time when the competition from both sides (CPU & GPU) is heating up (without any plan of counter-products from AMD -- no counter vs flagship Ivy, Haswell, Tegra, Quadro, even Atom -- since AMD's Jaguar has no OEMs on-board) and is beating their flagship products with mid-range tier hardware (GK104, 2500K, even the old Fermi-based Quadro 4000 matching their Tahiti-based W9000 FirePro card's performance due to shitty drivers), is beyond moronic. And if any of the engineering cuts are, as feared, on the GPU side of the company, I can't see them standing a chance in 2013 and beyond in ANY parts of their business outside the games console space.

 

[ensabrenoir]

AMD is reportedly working to cut its workforce by nearly a third, about 20 to 30 percent, cuts, while BCG will be consulting on a "grand strategy" that could take the company forward.

Source: All Things D

could? :shadedshu