Hasta La Gadget!

AMD has delivered its financial results for Q4 2012, and things aren’t looking too hot for the company as we head into 2013. While AMD reported revenues of $1.16 billion for the fourth quarter, that figure is down 9% sequentially and a significant 32% year-over-year. Not making things any better, AMD reported a net lost of $473 million for the quarter, with loss-per-share coming in at $0.63.

Things get somewhat better when looking at the non-GAAP figures for the quarter, but in that case, AMD still finds itself with an operating loss of $55 million, a net loss of of $114 million, and a loss-per-share amount that settles at $0.14. GAAP gross margin came in at 15% for the quarter, while non-GAAP gross margin was 39%. Computing Solutions was down 37% year-over, posting an operating loss of $323 million, while the company’s Graphics segment had an operating income of $22 million – seemingly one of the only bright spots in AMD’s report, but still down 15% year-over-year nonetheless. The declines for both were blamed on decreases in product shipments.

Unfortunately, this poor Q4 was indicative of a rough year in general for AMD. The company had a revenue of $5.42 billion for 2012 as a whole, which sounds excellent but is actually down 17% year-over-year. Similarly, the company suffered an operating loss of $1.06 billion for the year, with net loss hitting $1.18 billion and loss-per-share treading somewhat close to $2.00 at $1.60. It’s worth remembering that AMD began implementing the restructuring it announced after posting Q3′s poor results, so that took something of a toll on the company’s pocketbook at the end of the year.

Those restructuring efforts forced a lot of workers out of their jobs, but the hope is that AMD will post better financials for 2013 as a result. In the immediate future, however, AMD isn’t expecting things to improve at all. In Q1 2013, it expects revenues to fall another 9% sequentially (with a possible 3% swing either way), which would be even worse news for the already struggling company. Stay tuned.

AMD ends Q4 2012 with net loss of $473 million is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

AMD has snatched two mobile processor specialists from Qualcomm and Apple, bolstering its footprint in low-power chip design as it attempts to expand from the desktop and notebook markets. Wayne Mertsky, formerly of Apple’s A-series chip division, and Charles Matar, previously one of Qualcomm’s embedded chip experts, have joined AMD’s ranks, the company confirmed to Reuters, but exactly what they’ll do at their new employer is still the stuff of speculation.

According to insiders familiar with the new roles, Meretsky will lead AMD’s software development efforts, customizing code to work more efficiently with the firm’s silicon. That’s not a new area for AMD; back at the launch of the Trinity chip series for notebooks, ultraportables, and tablets, AMD highlighted the collaborative work it had done with software companies, fettling their code to squeeze the best out of its APUs.

As for Matar, he will supposedly take up a role as VP of System-on-Chip Development, a clear indication of AMD’s ambitions for the mobile market. SoCs pull together the processor, as well as memory, other components, and sometimes radios, into a single, compact package, making them ideal for the space-short confines of smartphones and tablets.

Interestingly, joining AMD is a return of sorts for both execs, with each having worked at the company earlier in their respective careers. Meretsky will also find at least one familiar face waiting for him; AMD snatched up Apple chip architect Jim Keller midway through 2012.

Exactly how much work AMD needs to do if it wishes to be as competitive as, say, Apple, Qualcomm, Samsung, and others in the mobile chipset market is unclear. The company announced a range of new APUs – Kabini, Kaveri, Richland, and Temash – at CES earlier this month, but is yet to publicly detail a roadmap for SoCs.

AMD grabs ex-Apple and Qualcomm mobile chip specialists is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

At yesterday’s investor meeting in Taipei, TSMC’s chairman and CEO Morris Chang shared the good news that his company’s 28nm chip shipment this year will triple that of last year, which should boost its annual increase in revenue to above the industry’s average rate of seven percent. China Times reports that orders for TSMC’s 28nm silicon are lined up to as far out as late Q3, courtesy of demand for ARM processors, baseband chips, graphics processors and x86 processors. This is no surprise considering the likes of Qualcomm (Snapdragon 600 and 800), Huawei (HiSilicon K3V2 Pro and K3V3), NVIDIA (Tegra 4), AMD (Temash and Kabini) and possibly Apple will be ordering more 28nm-based chipsets from the foundry throughout the year. TSMC did struggle with its 28nm supply for Qualcomm early last year, but it eventually caught up later on, and Chang stated that TSMC now owns nearly 100 percent of the 28nm process market.

Looking further ahead, Chang said his company’s already seen enough clients and demand for the upcoming 20nm manufacturing process, which should have a more significant financial contribution in 2014. The exec also predicted that at TSMC, its 20nm production will see a bigger growth rate between 2014 and 2015 than its 28nm counterpart did between 2012 and 2013 — the former should eventually nab close to 90 percent of the market, said Chang.

[Image credit: TSMC]

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Via: The Next Web

Source: China Times (translated), MoneyDJ (translated)

Advanced Micro Devices, popularly known as AMD, has filed a complaint yesterday saying that four of its previous employees, ex-key officials for that matter, brought along with them sensitive documents or electronic files before joining fierce graphics competitor NVIDIA. The defendants are Robert Feldstein, Manoo Desai, Nicolas Kociuk, and Richard Hagen. (more…)

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Verizon Discovers Developer Outsourcing Work To China So He Could Browse The Internet, Jack Ma Of Alibaba To Step Down,

AMD has accused several former employees of stealing more than 100,000 confidential files before jumping ship to NVIDIA, potentially leaking trade secrets on high-profile gaming projects, and has filed for injunctive relief against the execs involved. “This is an extraordinary case of trade secret transfer/misappropriation and strategic employee solicitation,” AMD writes in its complaint, ExtremeTech reports, alleging that some of its former team attempted to lure their ex-colleagues over to NVIDIA while also clearing out evidence that they’d raided AMD’s document database.

Robert Feldstein, Manoo Desai, Nicholas Kociuk, and Richard Hagen are the four former employees AMD has named, all four of which have left the chip company within the past twelve months and joined the ranks at NVIDIA. According to AMD, Feldstein – acknowledged as instrumental to AMD’s console endeavours, including the work that is believed to have secured the PlayStation 4 and Xbox “720″ Durango contracts from Sony and Microsoft respectively – and Hagen both helped recruit Desai, “who in turn recruited Kociuk and perhaps additional AMD employees.”

AMD’s investigation apparently turned up evidence that Feldstein, Desai, and Kociuk all used portable storage devices to make copies of “trade secret files and information” just prior to leaving the chip firm. “The names of identified and transferred files match identically or very closely to the names of files on their AMD systems that include obviously confidential, proprietary, and/or trade secret materials relating to developing technology and/or highly confidential business strategy” AMD’s complaint states.

The four defendants signed “no-solicitation of employees” agreements, as well as non-disclosure agreements, AMD points out, and if the allegations are true, are in breach of both. There’s no direct mention of NVIDIA being in any way directly involved, however, with AMD careful to keep its accusations focused on the four employees themselves, and it’s unstated whether AMD believes the quartet actually distributed the files while at NVIDIA. Among AMD’s claims are suggestions that some of the four discussed how to “manipulate and eliminate certain data” on their computers, prior to leaving the company, or sought online advice as to “how to copy and/or delete large numbers of documents.”

In reaction, the Massachusetts court has instructed all four of the defendants to prepare their computers and any storage devices for forensic evaluation, in addition to retaining all documents that could be pertinent to the case, and not do anything that might impede such an inquiry. AMD argues that “unless injunctive relief is granted” it will be “irreparably harmed in a manner not fully compensable by money damages.”

AMD accuses four of 100,000 document theft prior to NVIDIA defection is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.