The AMD Execution Thread [2007 - 2017]

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INKster said:
A possible solution: dump FAB36/FAB38 and go fabless like VIA/Centaur.
If that's not possible due to licensing agreements with Intel, then dump them both after a new FAB is ready in either New York/US or some other country with qualified engineers, like India.
That alone would chip off a lot of expenses, especially now with the strong Euro value definitively hurting exports and such.
There's also the issue with the tremendously high cost of the king-size salaries that skilled German workers often benefit of (compared to the rest of the European countries).
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But aren't the Dresden facilities their most advanced fabs? I thought they just sold of $190 million worth of equipment from one of them because it was obsolete and replaced. I can't imagine them selling off the fabs altogether in the near future, though we do keep hearing rumours about them spinning off the manufacturing facilities into a separate company. Which I'm not sure I understand how it would help, to be honest.
 
Where's the so called write down AMD anounced last year? http://news.cnet.com/8301-10784_3-9832904-7.html?hhTest=1

That was just a cannon fodder, another excuse or otherwise they wouldn't pay so high for ATI's write off, as they did for this Q2 2008's 880 million. If AMD make one more of these payments, without this goodwill, they will be out of the big game. Unless they spinoff a pure R&D company as charlie sugested, and hope this strategy doesn't fail like Ruiz did with Motorola.
 
MTd2 said:
That was just a cannon fodder, another excuse or otherwise they wouldn't pay so high for ATI's write off, as they did for this Q2 2008's 880 million. If AMD make one more of these payments, without this goodwill, they will be out of the big game.
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I have the distinct impression that your idea of a write down means that money changes hands.

Not so. It's an accounting thing that reduces the value of company asserts on the books.
 
It's still a cost.

The one off charges keep coming and coming. I think there must be an infinite number of them that will announced now every quarter till the end of days.

Interesting both nvidia and AMD now have doom and gloom threads, Intel are sitting pretty.
 
Ah, I guess that Consumer write-down was a prelude to divestiture. They're going to sell handheld/DTV if they can.
 
And Ruiz is out (well, not entirely. . .he's keeping the Intel anti-trust suit for instance), Meyer is the man. About a year too late, IMHO.
 
AMD 2Q loss widens, worse than analyst forecast

AMD 2nd-qtr loss widens with asset impairment charge

SUNNYVALE, Calif. (AP) -- Advanced Micro Devices Inc. said Thursday its second-quarter loss widened as the computer chip maker was hurt by a large asset impairment charge from discontinued operations.

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Sunnyvale-based AMD reported a loss of $1.19 billion, or $1.96 per share, in the quarter that ended June 28. The world's No. 2 maker of computer microprocessors lost $600 million, or $1.09 per share, in the year-ago quarter.

The company's adjusted loss totaled 60 cents per share. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial had expected an adjusted loss of 52 cents per share.

AMD's revenue rose to $1.35 billion from $1.31 billion, but it was short of the $1.45 billion in revenue expected on Wall Street.

The company's revenue from microprocessors, chipsets and embedded processors was flat year over year at $1.10 billion, while revenue from AMD's graphics segment -- which includes graphics, video and multimedia products -- rose more than 17 percent to $248 million.

AMD's results included a loss of $920 million, or $1.52 per share, from discontinued operations. In a statement, AMD Chief Financial Officer Robert J. Rivet said the company "had a disappointing quarter financially" but that customer interest in its newer microprocessor and graphics products and platform offerings "is strong."

In the third quarter, AMD expects revenue to rise along normal seasonal patterns. In the third quarter of last year, AMD reported $1.63 billion in revenue. This time, analysts are looking for $1.60 billion in revenue.

AMD shares fell 20 cents, or 3.8 percent, to $5.10 in after-hours trading. The stock finished trading Thursday up 24 cents, or 4.7 percent, at $5.30.
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http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080717/earns_amd.html?.v=3
 
I think it's no coincidence that Hector going and the decision to divest Consumer are happening at the same time.

I've been saying for over a year that the second could not happen without the first.
 
AMD's results included a loss of $920 million, or $1.52 per share, from discontinued operations. In a statement, AMD Chief Financial Officer Robert J. Rivet said the company "had a disappointing quarter financially" but that customer interest in its newer microprocessor and graphics products and platform offerings "is strong."
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Graphics no doubt. Microprocessor tho?
 
The rumor mill has siezed on Meyer's statements with regards to Asset-smart in the latest conference call, and it appears as if something will finally be disclosed as to what it is AMD intends to do.

The CC went so far as to state the AMD's status is something out of the ordinary (the x86 cross-patent agreement?), which is why it couldn't just sell off its fabs and go fabless.

However, the buzz is that somehow the fabs are going one way and the chip designers are going in the other.

So what could AMD do to a) get a cash infusion, b) go fab-light or fab-free, and c) not run afoul of its agreements?

Selling off the fabs to someone accomplishes a and b, but not c.
AMD could just do it anyway and then run to the courts to invalidate the agreement, but would it?

AMD could spin off the fabs into an owned subsidiary. It would have to be majority-owned by AMD if it were to not hit any foundry restrictions.
Then other parties can use the fab and underutilization is in theory not a problem.
That still leaves AMD under the bulk of its agreements. Perhaps the fab can sell shares of ownership to raise cash.

Even crazier:
AMD divests its design business as a separate entity.
For fun, I'll call the fab and process group Fabs Any Thing, but the key point is that this is still the legal entity known as AMD.
Meanwhile all the GPU, CPU, and whatever else design groups fall under the spinoff, Divested Engineering and Design.

FAT will still have the x86 license, while DEAD has the design stuff.
There's a production restriction on outside fabbing, but not to my knowledge a restriction that nobody but AMD can design x86 CPUs.
DEAD can then "sell" or lease its designs to FAT, and FAT still has the x86 agreement.
FAT can also fab whatever else, and clients will not have the uncomfortable feeling (or have less of one) that AMD's designers are peering at their IP in the fab. DEAD might stay on as some kind of senior partner in a fab development consortium, perhaps an adjunct to the current process alliance.
Maybe a stock sale for DEAD actually might raise more cash, since it as a corporate entity is not saddled with FAT's massive debt load, and it has ATI as value-added.
 
I listened to AMD's 2nd quarter conference call last week because I bought their stock after NVidia's implosion... (my advice now would be avoid them both) I was also thinking of writing up an article contrasting Intel and AMD's respective quarters, but inertia got the better of me.

One take-away from that call is that the single biggest issue on analysts minds is always the fab-light aspect. Now, on this call it was again the #1 question, but there was a semi-answer of sorts I felt... in contrast to previous quarters. They mentioned that the main goal of such a move would not be cost cutting; in fact, margins might decrease based on the expense of paying for another company's depreciation/profit, etc...

The main take-away from what they were looking to achieve was a significant lightening of the load on the balance sheets. So, who knows what they're thinking, but I'd believe spin-off rather than sale. The main immediate advantage would be an increase in their credit-worthiness, and thus a sort-of assurance that future cash demands could be met. And they've been working on this thing for a long time now, that much was clear also. So probably not everything is clear-cut, the pros and cons still show shades of gray, and on top of it all whoever (if anyone) they're dealing with... this is probably a hard environment for everyone right now. (2008)

It'll be interesting to see what eventually happens. I'm hoping for an announcement sooner rather than later! ;)
 
3dilettante said:
Even crazier:
AMD divests its design business as a separate entity.
For fun, I'll call the fab and process group Fabs Any Thing, but the key point is that this is still the legal entity known as AMD.
Meanwhile all the GPU, CPU, and whatever else design groups fall under the spinoff, Divested Engineering and Design.
Click to expand...
And if you want to get *even* more totally and utterly crazy... Wouldn't this theoretically allow *any* company to manufacture x86 CPUs @ FAT? :) If so, that might make the name of the companies financing the spin-off a much more interesting piece of information!
 
Arun said:
And if you want to get *even* more totally and utterly crazy... Wouldn't this theoretically allow *any* company to manufacture x86 CPUs @ FAT? :) If so, that might make the name of the companies financing the spin-off a much more interesting piece of information!
Click to expand...

nVidia's Bulldozer G666!
 
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