Can AMD Accelerate Mobile Business After Layoffs?

Former Lenovo President and COO Rory Read, now CEO of AMD, is shaking up the chip company. Indeed, Read is cutting AMD’s expenses and reshaping the company structure through substantial layoffs and other new strategies. But can AMD overcome fierce competition from Intel and ARM? The VAR Guy has some thoughts…

While cutting 10 percent of AMD’s staff, Read claims the chip company will “stake leadership positions in lower power, emerging markets and the cloud.” AMD expects to save $10 million in the fourth quarter of 2011 and $118 million in 2012.

So how will AMD evolve? Outside of boosting AMD’s channel, The VAR Guy hopes AMD boosts the company’s mobile APU technology. AMD’s APU CPUs have big potential, but limited distribution means AMD faces an uphill battle against mobile CPU competitors, like Intel and ARM.

Intel is gearing up for its first Android 4.0 devices and Google is building Android 4.0 to be x86 compatible. Meanwhile, ARM continues to power the latest and greatest CPUs, with big supporters like Apple (A5) and Nvidia (Tegra 2) building their CPUs on the ARM spec.

Is it too late for AMD to really play a major role in the mobile world? The VAR Guy’s advice: Perhaps AMD should build something that will be a game changer 5 years out, instead of rushing to push something to market in 12 to 24 months. AMD needs to surprise device OEMs with a unique mobile processing solution that changes the paradigm of what a system-on-a-chip will look like. AMD’s APU technology can be a potential springboard for that effort.

Be sure to check out AMD’s press release, which contains more intricate figures on restructuring and anticipated cost savings. In the meantime, The VAR Guy will continue to keep an eagle eye on new processor moves coming out Advanced Micro Devices.