AMD sales down but losses reduced

Intel's chief rival unveils better second quarter financial results - but still a $330m loss

AMD still in the red - but less so than last year

Chip vendor Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) unveiled losses of $330m (£201m) for its second financial quarter - less than the $1.2bn (£733m) loss in the same period last year, but still enough to cut nearly 12 per cent off its share price in after-hours trading.

Revenue of $1.2bn was also down 13 per cent year on year.

"While we increased cash, exceeded our revenue plan and reduced operating expenses in the second quarter, gross margin was disappointing,” said AMD president and chief executive Dirk Meyer.

The sales figures contrasted with the second quarter of rival Intel, which last week reported revenue of $8bn, up 12 per cent on the same period last year. However a $1.45bn European Union fine for antitrust activities meant the firm showed a $398m loss.

In April, Intel chief executive Paul Otellini said the PC slump had bottomed out. AMD hopes that Otellini's comments hold true, since it is still struggling to get back into the black, despite spinning off its capital-intensive chip-making arm into Global Foundries, through which it intends to outsource processor manufacture.

AMD hopes to rectify its current financial situation with the recent launch of new multi-core Opteron processors, and launches scheduled for later this year, such as a dual core processor for ultra-thin devices.