AMD cuts 10% of its workforce

NEW YORK - Microchip maker AMD, Intel's chief rival, announced Thursday it would cut about 1, 200 jobs so as to get its costs in check.
The layoffs represent roughly 10% of AMD's 11, 600 employees around the world. AMD said it expects to find out the advantages of the task cuts immediately, gaining $10 million in savings throughout the current quarter and $118 million the coming year.
The organization also said it might implement certain "operational efficiency initiatives" which will save an extra $90 million the coming year. It failed to get into specifics about its plans.
The task cuts will definitely cost AMD a bit more than $100 million in the present quarter.
That still leaves the organization financially ahead for your company year, with around $200 million freed up for reinvestment. AMD said it plans to make use of the money to deepen its investment in new technologies like chips that use less power for mobile phones like tablets. Additionally, it intends to get more in emerging markets all over the world, and in cloud-based technologies.

Shares of AMD (AMD, Fortune 500), which rose slightly in after normal office hours trading, have fallen by nearly 30% this season. Unlike Intel (INTC, Fortune 500), that has weathered this year's declining demand for pcs, AMD has brought an immediate hit. The organization lowered its business outlook by most of in September because of demand concerns.
Still, AMD is operating profitably. It earned $668 million within the first nine months of 2011 on sales of $4. 9 billion, a small decline from its sales within the same timeframe per year earlier.

AMD is famous for lighting-fast PC processors which are often stronger than the ones from its much bigger rival, Intel. However the PC industry's biggest growth is within smaller, mobile phones that need power-sipping microchips that preserve battery-life -- not exactly AMD's specialty.
The organization is looking to turn things around the coming year, since it begins to market chips for Microsoft (MSFT, Fortune 500) Windows 8 tablets. Despite Microsoft's decision to open the Windows platform to companies that run chips in line with the rival ARM (ARM) platform that many smartphones use today, AMD believes it may supply the right mixture of speed and battery preservation to enhance its fortunes.

cnn.com