AMD lets go of 1,400 employess, some senior staff included

By Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla

Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) will  reportedly lay off 1,400 employees which make up 10% of its workforce. The embattled microchip maker has struggled of late with manufacturing setbacks and its failure to stake a claim in the burgeoning mobile chip market which powers smartphones and tablets. 

A report from the Wall Street Journal disclosed "the moves will trigger about $105 million in restructuring charges, and save more than $200 million in operating costs in 2012. AMD said it will plow some of the savings into newer business areas, including chips for devices such as tablet-style computers, in emerging markets and Internet-related opportunities known as cloud computing."

Managers and lower lever employees are among those who are to be let go. AMD is facing competition from longtime rival Intel in the desktop, notebook and netbook space while being pummeled by ARM in the mobile fron which looks to be gearing up towards the lower-priced desktop space that AMD once thived in. AMD's strongest  products right now are their graphics processors.

Sources: Wall Street Journal Online