Not only have we seen the usually invincible Apple, but Google, Microsoft and more have been posting losses not just in the last 24 hours, but over the last month or so. Tech doesn't seem to be doing too well in the market lately, and AMD is yet another victim.
We reported that there would be 10-15% layoffs in the near future, with the chipmaker confirming this after their Q3 financial results. AMD recorded a net loss of $157 million on a revenue of $1.27 billion. These numbers are worse than they were in the previous quarter, as well as Q3 2011. Revenue decline was cited for both its Computing Solutions and Graphics divisions.
AMD's gross margins were 31% which is a big drop from the 45% they were enjoying last quarter, and Q3 2011. A $100 million inventory write-down was noted, which mainly consisted of Llano-based A-Series APUs, but cited lowering demand for its CPUs as a problem. Looking into the future AMD are likely to axe 15% of their workforce in hopes of lowering costs. AMD projects the cuts will lead to a savings of $20 million for Q4 and $190 million for the entire of 2013.
AMD CEO Rory Read has said:
It is clear that the trends we knew would re-shape the industry are happening at a much faster pace than we anticipated. As a result, we must accelerate our strategic initiatives to position AMD to take advantage of these shifts and put in place a lower cost business model. Our restructuring efforts are designed to simplify our product development cycles, reduce our breakeven point and enable us to fund differentiated product roadmaps and strategic breakaway opportunities.