News AMD to lay off 10 per cent of its workforce

AMD annouces that its laying off ten per cent of its global workforce.

http://www.bit-tech.net/news/hardware/2011/11/04/amd-to-lay-off-10-per-cent-of-its-workforce/1

 

This was inevitable, given how poorly Bulldozer was received.

The redundancies are a tragedy all the same, but many of us have been through that in the last few years. I hope the cost savings help them rebuild and become more competitive.

 

I think it's a bit hard to read to much in to this one. it might have something that was on the cards no matter good or bad bulldozer was. It does how ever look like a knee jerk reaction to a poor showing from all the new products.

 

Yes, they could've been waiting for Bulldozer before deciding just how many to lay off. Perhaps if it didn't receive such a panning, they would be looking at a smaller cull.

 

I still think they'll get it right with Bulldozer or something based on it. It's a brand new architecture, they might not bust Intels balls but could end up offering a very good all round chip.

 

They might get it right eventually, but they deffinitely don't have it right, right now.

2 billion transistors versus about a billion for sandy bridge...and it is quite a bit slower in a lot of measures of performance that matter to most desktop users and even a fair number of sever users.

 

AMD are tools. it doesnt take a rocket scientist to work out that if you keep people waiting for a product that is vastly inferior to your competitors your gonna end up in financial trouble.

AMD need a chip that blows intel out the water, this will get its name back on top, then it needs to start releasing chips that compete or are better than intel for a reasonable price. Releasing a server chip for a consumer market that still relies on fast single thread apps is madness.

I wish them luck, dont see them unfortunately keeping up at this rate

 

Now now, don't you think that thats a little bit harsh?

AMD has vastly less resources than Intel, Intel has even played dirty in the past when AMD did have a superior product to stop it selling (and has paid some compensation as a result). Making a processor is hard, they can't just "make it fast and brilliant and stuff" it takes years of R&D and planning and work to make a good chip and they didn't set out to disappoint with BD, the architecture even shows promise, its just not done yet, and as it stands Intel is a generation or two ahead.

I think that those people working at AMD work to make competitive products as best they can and in this instance they didn't get it right first time. Calling them tools whilst they or their colleagues are losing their jobs is in poor taste. None of them set out to launch a disappointing product.

 

And intel needs a competitor to ARM, they can't just pull it out a hat though.

Can intel afford to let amd dwindle and die or can we expect something like the ms/apple deal?

 

Come on AMD... You can do it...

 

Does this include GlobalFoundries or not?

I mean, they've already outsourced their manufacturing and the accompanying R&D, who's left to lay off that isn't desperately needed?

 

Perhaps they should focus on making a new CPU with, I don't know, better performance than an intel CPU for the same price?

 

Well they do insist on fighting Intel with one hand for CPU market, and Nvidia with the other hand for the GPU market.

They appear to be losing on both counts.

 

Genius! Why didn't they think if that, they should make you CEO post haste!

Please read my previous comment, making CPUs isn't easy it takes a long time and a lot of resources. They are trying to do just that. If you know something they don't about making a fast cheap CPU please let us all know.


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OK, this may not be such bad news for competition in the CPU market - if you don't produce products that people want to buy, then you go bust.

C'mon ARM!

 

The limited X86 licences suggest it would be bad news, as since Cyrix died and VIA has been proven not to compete it means that nobody will be able to compete at a desktop level at all with intel. No completion is bad competition. Even intel knows this. Might give nvidia or some other a crack at a x86 licence though I guess. But that should have happened 5 years ago.


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Oh great, so Radeon drivers are going to get even worse now - no doubt... :-(
Intel's "dirty tricks" with OEM's is leaving a very sour taste now - for everyone...

 

The 'stupid new names for our chips' commitee?

 

GloFo is a separate company, so no, AMD can't directly fire anyone from there.

Still, there's been a lot of pushback against Germany recently since they are still having MAJOR Yield issues on 32nm related to processing issues. GloFo has really never been criticized by Bit-Tech, probably because they're a privately held company that doesn't have to be in the spotlight.

It doesn't excuse Bulldozer I know, but AMD needs a lot more Llano in the marketplace to bring up margins. There is demand for Llano, but it's been tempered by a failure of GloFo to meet supply, which affects how laptop manufacturers feel about adding more Llano products to their range.

 

Indeed, is it just me or does it seems as for every small laptop with an AMD APU chip in it you can buy, there are ten or twelve other models with Atoms and i3s? AMD APUs are like hens teeth!