AMD hires former Apple, Qualcomm senior engineers

AMD has rehired two engineers who previously worked for the Sunnyvale, California-based chip maker before going on to work at Apple and Qualcomm, a move that suggests the company is serious about spreading its reach--and influence--beyond the PC.

Reuters has reported that former Qualcomm engineer Charles Matar, with expertise in low-power and embedded chip design, is to join AMD as vice president of system-on-a-chip development. Also back at AMD is Wayne Meretsky, an engineer who once worked as a technical lead for OS X at Apple, this time returning as vice president of software IP development.

See also: 'Lack of innovation in the PC product cycle' spells problems for Intel: analyst

An AMD spokesperson has confirmed that the hiring of the two engineers, and stated that they will help the company expand into new markets, but no further details as to their specific areas of responsibility was given.

The return of Matar and Meretsky to the AMD fold follows the return of chip guru Jim Keller, who returned to the company last August as chief architect. Keller had previously worked at Apple on the A-series processors used in the iPhone and iPad.

While it is clear that AMD is interested in diversifying, where these latest hires will take the company is unclear. There has been speculation that both Sony and Microsoft will turn to AMD for processors for their next generation of games consoles.

Another possibility is that AMD is to get serious about low-power mobile processors, possibly in an attempt to position itself as a competitor to Nvidia and its Tegra family of mobile processors.

AMD has been trimming its workforce as of late, laying off 15 percent of its workforce in October, the company's second round of job cuts in under a year.