AMD: India will play a critical role in the company's upturn [Strategy] [Times of India]

(Times of India Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) BANGALORE: Computer processor maker Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) is on a recovery path and its new chief executive Rory Read, seven months old in the firm, is determined India will play a critical role in the upturn.

During his first visit to India in April, Read decided to bring along the entire eight-member AMD Executive Team or AET - the group of senior executives that drive strategy and operations at the $7billion chip-maker. For the first time, the AET was meeting outside of North America.

In what has to be seen as a sign of faith in the growth of the Indian market, the chief executive of the only credible competitor to world's largest chip-maker Intel made pit stop at Nehru Place in New Delhi, believed to be one of the largest computer hardware markets in South Asia.

Part of Rory Read's enthusiasm has to do with the fact AMD's India sales grew 36% in India - six times that of industry average, Read says -- citing data from market researcher IDC. "I think we can do even more this year," Read said. "I see a huge opportunity here." One of the topmost priority for AMD is to regain customer trust that it apparently lost on account of a few botched supply contracts. Word on the street, although both companies would admit it, is that Apple was considering an AMD chip for its ultra-thin laptop called MacBook Air.

However the deal fell through, reportedly because of quality concerns besides production constraints at AMD facilities. That would have given AMD a significant edge in its competition against Intel. Following the Delhi meet, Read held a town-hall meeting in Bangalore where 800 engineers took part.

The new chief patiently responded to queries about the firm's way forward, and how he planned to win back customer's trust. Read said employee dedication is paying off in meeting some tight product timelines and winning customer's trust.

Read has even started using Indian expressions to describe his company's progress and the opportunities ahead. "This is just the beginning of the game. If this is a cricket match, we are just on day one of the five day test mach," Read said. "And it's early in the day." These assurances come after industry observers have been wondering for a few quarter whether AMD really had a gameplan to survive in an intensely competitive market where standards change so fast and technology obsolesce is more routine than exception.

But with a new chief at the helm, the market is beginning to feel the difference. According to JP Morgan, Read has "enacted numerous structural changes to strengthen the company's competitive positioning and improve its financial performance." Before AMD, Read himself has been at the cusp of change as president and chief operating officer of laptop-maker Lenovo -- one of AMD's largest clients.

With new form factors like tablets, some have even questioned the viability of personal computers and laptops, the bread and butter market for AMD.

Apple, which revolutionised the computing scene with iPad, is already talking of a 'post-PC' era. Read sees it so differently and says there will be a convergence of form factors devices but those devices would still need a lot of computing power and that will be provided by companies like AMD.

"I worked at IBM for 23 years and then my dad worked at IBM for 38 years. Back then, mainframes dominated and people said within a few years, that era is over. It is not over. That is still a huge business for IBM." Read said.

AMD is betting on its new model of accelerated processing units or APUs, that combine power of traditional processors and specialised graphics processors.

APUs have been positioning them as ideal for netbooks. "Do you know that 50% of the data shipped from the cloud today is video and graphics based?" Read stated his case matter of factly. "Within 3-4 years it will be 80%." And no, Read does not think PCs and laptops are a thing of the past.

(c) 2012 Bennett, Coleman & Company Limited

[ Back To Homepage ]

Real time alerts

The World's Largest Communications And Technology Community

Technology Marketing Corporation,
800 Connecticut Ave, 1st Floor East, Norwalk, CT 06854 USA
Ph: 800-243-6002, 203-852-6800; Fx: 203-866-3326
General comments: tmc@tmcnet.com. Comments about this site: webmaster@tmcnet.com.

» About » Contact » Advertise