AMD to cut ten per cent of its workforce

Chip maker lowers Q1 2008 revenues

AMD market share slipping against Intel

AMD has announced plans to shelve 1,650 jobs this year, roughly ten per cent of its workforce, after it announced that financial results for the first quarter of 2008 ending 29th March are likely to be disappointing.

The chip maker said it expects first quarter revenue to be approximately $1.5bn (£762m), 22 per cent up on Q1 2007 but 15 per cent on Q4 2007. The company cited lower than expected sales across all business segments for the shortfall. AMD’s full financial results for Q1 2008 will be posted on April 17th.

AMD’s market share for x86 based desktop PC, laptop and server processors has fallen to around 23 per cent in the face of increased competition from Intel over the last couple of years.

The costs associated with integrating graphics card specialist ATI, which AMD bought for $4.3bn (£2.2bn) in October 2006, has lead to the company posting a series of negative financial results. Analysts do not expect AMD to return to profitability until 2010.