AMD CEO Dirk Meyer Resigns

[GodisanAtheist]

AMD should seriously just license an ARM design and get an SOC out there if they're looking to get into the mobile market, instead of trying to design something from the ground up.

I really hope AMD doesn't try to force X86 into a market with no need of it. Intel hasn't even had a chance to fail because they haven't even started competing, so why should AMD waste extremely precious resources diving into the highly competitive low yield handheld market with their own designs?

AMD's firing of Dirk Meyer has really shaken my faith in the company. He had the kind of steady set conservative leadership AMD desperately needs right now.

 

[taltamir]

Dirk took a failing company, made it profitable and have cash. That sounds like a keeper. He tells them that he can't pull a miracle out of his ass and they fire him... To be (eventually, current guy is dirk's CFO and refuses to be considered for the CEO position; a significant sign) replaced by someone like hector ruin who will promise them the sky and deliver the company unto its deathbed.

Trying to sell to the Government of Abu Dhabi (ATIC) is exactly the kind of thing I'd expect from them (what with GloFo), and is possibly what they WANT to happen, but that has to get the approval of the US government, and its not necessary going to happen.

 

[Rezist]

I honestly believe this due to bobcat being too big to fit into tablets/cellphones.
Sure it's great for netbooks but tablets are going to replace netbooks.

I don't agree with that future but that is the trend.

 

[Idontcare]

I honestly believe this due to bobcat being too big to fit into tablets/cellphones.
Sure it's great for netbooks but tablets are going to replace netbooks.

I don't agree with that future but that is the trend.

That may well be true but god damn it man bobcat is already nothing short of a miracle considering the density (die size), tdp, and the fact it is manufactured on TSMC's 40nm bulk-Si CMOS process tech.

What the bobcat team did, IMHO, is nothing short of miraculous in its own right...to consider the resultant product to be a "shortfall" is absurd. (not directed at you, directed at the BoD if this was truly their expectations of bobcat)

Put bobcat on an SOI process, scale it down to a leading edge node like 32nm SOI and add in HKMG and you got yourself one hell of a power-miser combined with a potent architecture.

Look at AMD's resources versus that of Qualcomm's, Apple, Intel, TI, etc...how many ways is AMD supposed to spend the same few dollars on R&D chasing every market under the sun? They can't do everything, it is just silly that the BoD has asked AMD's PR team to present the situation as if it were nothing more complicated than merely making the choice to enter the smartphone space. Disingenuous even.

 

[taltamir]

@Idontcare: very good observations, if it really is over bobcat not being cellphone ready (ignoring how amazing it is already), well... that BoD is going to run the company into hot water.

 

[Wreckage]

Look at AMD's resources versus that of Qualcomm's, Apple, Intel, TI, etc...how many ways is AMD supposed to spend the same few dollars on R&D chasing every market under the sun? They can't do everything, it is just silly that the BoD has asked AMD's PR team to present the situation as if it were nothing more complicated than merely making the choice to enter the smartphone space. Disingenuous even.

Isn't this exactly what NVIDIA is doing? Even bringing a new CPU to market

 

[taltamir]

nvidia branching off into a new market isn't necessarily going after all markets at once.
this was long due, although rather unexpected that they went with ARM instead of buying VIA and making an x86. (the last intel settlement even required that the license be transferable in such cases).

Time will tell where nvidia actually takes their new design.

Also, nvidia is doing this today... there is nothing stopping AMD from starting a project like that now. But supposedly the BoD was upset that it hasn't been already...
Aka, while Dirk was bringing them to profitability, and executing extremely well, he was somehow expected to ALSO have gotten this done already.

alternatively, maybe its not the issue. Maybe they wanted him to go there today, but he was against it... maybe he wanted to catch/pass intel on their main products rather then focusing on a whole new product that everyone else is going into that just might end up with multiple mediocre products, none of which very profitable.

It is important to remember those are speculations based on what little the said.

 

[Dark Shroud]

I honestly believe this due to bobcat being too big to fit into tablets/cellphones.
Sure it's great for netbooks but tablets are going to replace netbooks.

I don't agree with that future but that is the trend.

The problem with that is we don't actually know that's going to happen. Especially if they're dumb or limited tablets akin to the iPad. There is a difference between a consumption device/toy vs something an office worker/student will be able to do real work ok.

It was the same thing when AMD sold to qualcom. Markets change rapdily and you either get it right or get it wrong. Just look how long its actually taken for the Tegra line to get some footing. And even now Tegra still can't do 1080p.

AMD has a lot of good tech right now on the field or ready to come out; Bulldozer, Bobcat, & Fussion. If they actually market their products properly they should be able to get market share & make some cash.

 

[Idontcare]

Isn't this exactly what NVIDIA is doing? Even bringing a new CPU to market

Setting aside the debate of whether or not your statement is dead-accurate or in left-field, it goes back to my assertion regarding the resource disparity that exists between AMD and the competitors in any given market segment they realistically stand a chance of getting into.

Could AMD do what NV is doing AND resource the effort in a manner that actually entitles them to a reasonable level of success? Sure they could, provided they reprioritized everything and effectively cut off funding to their existing GPU/CPU business programs.

And maybe that is what the BoD sees, and that Dirk failed to comprehend in their estimation...that AMD is at its "end game" in the x86 space and needs to diversify to another business segment where it stands a chance at being the 800lb gorilla.

Maybe Dirk steadfastly refused to see that AMD has no chance of sustaining the requisite development of competitive x86 products over the next 5-10 yrs...and the BoD viewed that as irresponsible of Dirk for not having an "exit strategy" and took action as required by their fiduciary manifest.

The timing of this could very well mean it was brought to a head over division on what to do with the $1B Intel windfall...Dirk might have wanted to sink it all into bolstering x86 development and the BoD said "now hold on just a minute here...$1B is not going to vault us into a position of sustained leadership over Intel for the next 5-10 yrs...let's get serious please".

 

[bryanW1995]

That seems to be the current rumor circulating. That he was in the way of a buyout. If that's true, I wonder how long until we find out who and when.

I don't think ATIC would help them much, other than giving them cash. I think they need a company that can help them expand into new markets and capitalize on their current technology.

Selling their mobile business to Qualcomm was obviously a huge mistake. I don't know what they will have to do to get back into that market. But they really need a presence there. I think they also dropped the ball on their "all-in-wonder" line. They could have been in every set-top box and "enhanced" TV out there.

Strange days indeed.

cash is what they need to get into those new markets. intel generates tons of cash from operations, which funds further R&D, which generates tons of sales, which nets lots of cash, etc etc. only way to play on their level is to get lots of cash somehow, and ATIC has it. Plus they are pushing hard to develop high tech industries over there, so there's a reason. Oracle makes just as much sense, though an oracle takeover would probably be bad for us consumers in the medium+ term.

 

[bryanW1995]

Dirk took a failing company, made it profitable and have cash. That sounds like a keeper. He tells them that he can't pull a miracle out of his ass and they fire him... To be (eventually, current guy is dirk's CFO and refuses to be considered for the CEO position; a significant sign) replaced by someone like hector ruin who will promise them the sky and deliver the company unto its deathbed.

Trying to sell to the Government of Abu Dhabi (ATIC) is exactly the kind of thing I'd expect from them (what with GloFo), and is possibly what they WANT to happen, but that has to get the approval of the US government, and its not necessary going to happen.

US govt won't block it b/c it won't have the public outcry that selling ports to middle eastern companies did, plus intel will still dominate the market.

 

[bryanW1995]

@Idontcare: very good observations, if it really is over bobcat not being cellphone ready (ignoring how amazing it is already), well... that BoD is going to run the company into hot water.

well, I hear that the water in the persian gulf is rather warm

 

[Medu]

@Idontcare: very good observations, if it really is over bobcat not being cellphone ready (ignoring how amazing it is already), well... that BoD is going to run the company into hot water.

I can't agree with that. AMD have a brand problem which doesn't really exist in smartphone/tablet sector. No matter how good bobcat based machines are most people are going to choose an Intel based machine over an AMD one. However in the phone/tablet sector people are more interested in the design and software than what CPU it has. The truth is that AMD are got going to success by taking Intel on head to head and should of shifted focus years ago but they have blown that chance. Apple is a perfect example of a company that shifted it's focus after year's of struggling to compete and look at how that turned out.