AMD axes 430 jobs
AMD said last week it would cut 430 jobs, but the widespread job cuts will not affect its U.K. operations.
Coming just weeks after its quarterly results showed huge losses, the layoffs affect about 2.6 percent of the chipset manufacturer's workforce.
AMD had hinted that layoffs were coming when it acquired ATI Technologies last year, but it has also been struggling in the first half of this year with its main processor business.
At the end of April, AMD posted a net loss for the first quarter of US$611 million, largely due to falling prices and sales, as well as supply chain problems. The same quarter a year earlier saw a profit of US$184.5 million.
AMD's share price has dropped by 55 percent in the last year, while that of rival Intel has risen by 11 percent. Intel's market share is also rising, with AMD's market share falling from 25.7 percent in the fourth quarter of last year to 18.7 percent in the first quarter of this year.
The company told ZDNet UK late last week that none of the job cuts would fall on its U.K. operations, which are based in Frimley, Surrey. At least 170 of the job cuts will be made in the United States. The San Jose Mercury News reported that 40 of the jobs come from AMD's Sunnyvale, Calif., headquarters as well as a nearby Santa Clara facility acquired along with ATI. An additional 50 jobs have been axed at the former ATI headquarters in Markham, Ontario, while 80 jobs are now gone in Austin, Texas, where AMD has a sizable presence.
Tom Krazit of News.com contributed to this story.