AMD sheds 1,200 workers as cost cuts continue

Chip maker hopes to save $118m over fiscal 2012

AMD has announced plans to cut one tenth of its workforce as part of ongoing measures to cut costs and compete with Intel.

The company said on Thursday that "operational efficiency initiatives" will include laying off roughly 1,200 employees and terminating a number of deals with outside contractors.

AMD hopes to save $10m this year, and $118m over the course of fiscal 2012, which will be invested in low-power, cloud and emerging market platforms.

"Reducing our cost structure and focusing our global workforce on key growth opportunities will strengthen AMD's competitiveness and allow us to aggressively pursue a balanced set of strategic activities designed to accelerate future growth," said AMD president and chief executive Rory Read.

"The actions we are taking are designed to improve our ability to consistently address the needs of our global customer base and stake leadership positions in lower power, emerging markets and the cloud."

AMD is currently overhauling its processor line, and recently introduced the Bulldozer microarchitecture with the release of the FX processor.

Executives at the chip firm said that Bulldozer will be the heart of AMD processors for the next five to six years.