Chip maker AMD is about to cut thousands of jobs, our colleagues at CNET News report.
According to people familiar with the matter, Advanced Micro Devices will let go between 20 and 30 per cent of its workers in the coming weeks. It's possible, though, that the number of those affected could be lower, the sources added.
AMD employed 11,737 people at the end of the second quarter, so up to 3,500 of them could be out of a job. Tough times.
The announcement could come as early as next week. AMD will go public with its quarterly earnings on Thursday, so don't expect brilliant results, if this report is anything to go by.
AMD has been struggling in the face of competition from the likes of Intel and Nvidia. With the rise of tablets, sales of traditional PCs and laptops have been on the wane as well. PC shipments in the last quarter were down by 8 per cent year-on-year, according to research firms Gartner and IDC.
Just a year ago, AMD sacked 10 per cent of its staff. It predicts its third-quarterly revenue will be down about 10 per cent, instead of the 4 per cent it previously thought.
It looks as though AMD needs to make some serious inroads into the lucrative mobiles and tablet markets, and fast. Earlier this week, it announced its first chip for tablets would launch alongside Windows 8. It's not just market conditions hurting AMD though. The company suffered production issues that meant it wasn't able to meet demand for a period last year.
Analysts don't fancy its chances much either. Bernstein analyst Stacy Rasgon said witnessing AMD's drawn-out demise was like "watching a slow-motion train wreck".
Other tech companies have also felt the pinch of the current economic climate. Sony had to let go some of its workforce earlier this year, as did Nokia.
Can AMD stage a comeback? And is backing Windows 8 the right way to go? Let me know in the comments, or on Facebook.
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beavertail 14 October, 2012 12:55
PC is dying. My PC has been off for about a year. Don't see a need to upgrade my laptop in hardware and Windows 8. Spend all my waking hours with my BlackBerry PlayBook. It goes everywhere I go. It is so portable. What I like it the most is it has no air vent so I can put it down anywhere without having to worry about suffocation like for a laptop - overheating is a major laptop killer.
Tablets and mobile are the computing of the future. Mobile Computing will be a term we will hear more and more.
anonymous 15 October, 2012 02:56
PCs are still the way to go. I had a tablet, smartphone and even a console. Nothing compares to a my good old ThinkPad. 4 hours of battery life is enough, a small screen is nice, but 15" with 1080p is much more useful when working with spreadsheets or even playing a game. Even browsing is more intuitive on a PC - spacebar for a page down, multiple tabs, page up down keys, find shortcut etc. Keyboards are meant for speed.
Should I need a new device, it will definitely be a desktop : power, flexibility and longer life.
anonymous 15 October, 2012 08:18
PC isn't dying, it just isn't the only device that is capable of doing various tasks anymore.
The truth is Tablets and mobiles are a compromise, the sacrifice power and excellence at all tasks in order to offer portability.
But a desktop or laptop will be better for the foreseeable future for the majority of roles for everything apart from quick access to social media.
anonymous 16 October, 2012 00:23
From my understanding though, AMD is likely to excel with the Windows 8 operating system, the way some of its chips run with its own built in graphics card on the processor make it a more likely choice for manufacturers as this will provide significant benefits to the way the operating system runs. Were as Intel haven't produced this kind of technology yet I have a feeling the might start falling behind.
Regards
James