Intel, economy hit struggling AMD with one-two punch

Although Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) came out swinging last month with a slew of new products, it wasn't enough to hold off a one-two punch from rival Intel and a sluggish economy, according to analysts.

The chipmaker announced Monday that it is set to lay off 10 per cent of its workforce, or about 1,600 employees, by the third quarter of this year to cut costs. The company also said it had lowered its revenue expectations for the first quarter of 2008 "due to lower-than-expected sales across all business segments."

It's a tough blow for a company that seemed to be getting back on track after struggling through much of 2007. Last year, it faced delayed product releases, financial woes and a slip in market and mind share. And while AMD struggled, Intel was firing on all cylinders, releasing quad-core chips and a 45-nanometer processor family - all keeping it well ahead of AMD's road map.

"It's not a happy time for AMD," said Charles King, an analyst at Pund-IT. "They're in a really tough market with everything going on with the US economy. If you're trying to make a house payment and feed your kids, the last thing you're thinking about is a new laptop. On top of that, they're being pressured by Intel's resurgence in the server space. Combine Intel and the economy and it's a lot of pressure."

For Jim MGregor, an analyst at In-Stat, AMD may be on the road to recovery after the debut of several products in March, but those new chips and chip set simply haven't had a chance to start bringing in any cash -- yet.

"It's good to see them coming out with products, but nobody gains market share immediately," said McGregor. "They won't have an impact on the market for a couple of quarters. And they still have several issues to address.... The worst thing they've done over the past year is go silent. There's an issue with credibility and vision. They need to rebuild both. They have to rebuild credibility in being able to execute their roadmaps. They need to show that their management has vision about where the industry is going and that they can they support the different markets they're getting into with a broader range of products."

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