AMD Warns of Lower Sales
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Semiconductor maker Advanced Micro Devices Inc.  warned on Monday that its quarterly revenue will be lower than forecast, citing softness in sales of its memory chips used in cell phones and other devices. The company's shares fell after the warning.
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Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD)  , the world's second-largest maker of computer  microprocessors, said on Tuesday it expects its declining  market share to bottom out and return to an upward trend by the  end of the year.
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The chip maker lowers estimates again on weak demand from consumers. Is this strike three?
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As this year comes to a close, AMD executives won&#39;t be sorry to put 2007 behind them. Battered by rising debt, shrinking market share and mounting financial losses, AMD is counting on a comeback in 2008. But can the struggling chip maker make good on its promises to customers and investors that better times lie ahead?Many of AMD&#39;s current troubles are tied to Barcelona, the first version of its Quad-Core Opteron processor.&#160;Repeated delays of this chip weakened AMD&#39;s finances and undermined confidence in the company&#39;s ability to deliver new products as promised. Rebuilding that lost confidence among corporate users and the financial community won&#39;t be easy and the company can ill afford further missteps.Over the next six months, there are several milestones that AMD must hit in order to get back on track. The first, and arguably most important, involves volume shipments of Barcelona, scheduled to happen during the first quarter. AMD desperately needs this chip to shore up flagging revenue from its commercial business and to take back ground lost recently to Intel in the server market.With a bug that was recently discovered in Barcelona fixed, AMD expects the latest version of the chip to start coming out of its manufacturing plants in January. Barcelona shipments are expected to rise throughout the first quarter, reaching &quot;full volumes&quot; and widespread availability of servers based on the chip during the second quarter, according to Phil Hughes, an AMD spokesman.Another early milestone to look out for involves Shanghai, the second version of the Quad-Core Opteron chip that&#39;s set for volume production during the second half of 2008. AMD will produce Shanghai with a 45-nanometer manufacturing process that is one generation ahead of the 65-nanometer process used to make Barcelona.The numbers used to describe chip manufacturing processes refer to the average size of the smallest features that can be created on a chip. The smaller these features can be made, the better. Making these features smaller gives chip makers the ability to shrink the overall size of a chip, thereby reducing unit manufacturing costs, or to add new features. Chips made using a more advanced process may also consume less power and run faster than other versions. But semiconductor production is as much art as it is science, and moving to a more advanced process is fraught with risks.In the case of Shanghai, AMD will take advantage of the 45-nanometer process to triple the size of the Level 3 (L3) cache, from 2M bytes in Barcelona to 6M bytes. The L3 cache is a shared pool of memory that can be accessed by all four cores on the chip. Each core has 512K bytes of Level 2 (L2) cache. When data is moved out of the L2 cache, it moves into the L3 cache instead of main memory, meaning that the core can access this information more quickly than would otherwise be possible.Like AMD&#39;s existing server lineup, Barcelona and Shanghai also include an on-chip memory controller that further helps to increase performance.The memory structure used in the Quad-Core Opteron is different from Intel&#39;s server chips, which do not use an L3 cache and do not have an on-chip memory controller. Instead, Intel&#39;s quad-core Xeon 7300 server chips have 8M bytes of shared L2 cache. Since Intel processors actually pack two dual-core chips inside a single package, the L2 cache is divided into two parts, with 4M bytes on each silicon chip. Intel&#39;s processors do not use an on-chip memory controller.Boosting the Quad-Core Opteron&#39;s L3 cache with Shanghai should give AMD&#39;s quad-core chips the opportunity to stretch their legs, but the company has to make them first. The first working samples of Shanghai are due out of AMD&#39;s factory in Dresden, Germany, in January, according to recent remarks by Mario Rivas, executive vice president of AMD&#39;s Computing Products Group. If these samples arrive late or suffer from unexpected technical problems, this could delay volume production of Shanghai to late 2008 or even early 2009. Conversely, working samples that arrive on schedule and meet or exceed expectations would give AMD an added boost.Besides the server segment, there are a couple of key product milestones on AMD&#39;s roadmap for desktop and mobile processors that bear watching as well.For example, the company plans a first-quarter rollout of Perseus, a package of chips aimed at PCs for the corporate market and centered on a quad-core or triple-core processor and an RS780 or SB700 chipset. A dual-core version will also be rolled out. During the second quarter, AMD plans to roll out Puma, a chip package designed for notebooks. Puma is based on a new processor, called Griffin, expected to offer better performance and power efficiency than AMD&#39;s existing line of mobile processors.AMD plans to offer additional details of its plans and upcoming products at the Consumer Electronics Show to be held in Las Vegas during January, Hughes said.
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U.S. stocks ended lower on Tuesday as  investors were spooked by weaker-than-expected earnings from  aluminum producer Alcoa Inc. AA.N and chip maker Advanced  Micro Devices Inc. AMD.N issued a sales warning.
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Advanced Micro Devices Inc. warned Monday that it was unlikely to meet its first-quarter revenue guidance of $1.6 billion to $1.7 billion, the latest in a series of disappointments for investors in the struggling chip-maker. The company's stock fell to a new 52-week low on the news.
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The high-end computer maker says revenue for the first quarter of fiscal 2005 will be lower than previously projected.
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Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD.N: Quote, Profile, Research) on Thursday reported a $44 million third-quarter profit from a loss a year earlier, and predicted
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Advanced Micro Devices Inc.  AMD.N on Thursday reported a $44 million third-quarter profit  from a loss a year earlier, and predicted sales growth in the  current quarter because of better-than-expected demand for its  personal computers processors.
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(InfoWorld) - Falling prices for DRAM chips and microprocessors badly hurt the global semiconductor market, which will likely limp to a sales increase of just 2.5 percent in 2007, according to an analyst report released Thursday. Semiconductor sales were originally expected to rise by 6.4 percent over 2006 levels, according to the study from Gartner. But chip sales in the first quarter of 2007 were more than 5 percent lower than in the fourth quarter of 2006, leading the research company to cut its 2007 market revenue forecast to $269.2 billion. The numbers reflect a continuingÂ price war between Intel and Advanced Micro DevicesÂ (AMD), as the processor vendors struggle for market share. That war has already taken a toll on AMD, which blamed slow chip sales for itsÂ $611 million lossÂ in the first quarter of 2007. Intel, a much larger company, has continued to post profitable quarters, but on May 2 addedÂ another 1,000 layoffsÂ to a corporate reorganization it began in 2006. Conditions areÂ worst of all in the DRAM sectorÂ of the industry, which will see its revenue drop 11.1 percent in 2007 to $30.5 billion, then limp to a smaller decline in 2008, according to Richard Gordon, research vice president at Gartner. The forecast could spell trouble for Samsung Electronics, the world's largest producer of DRAM and NAND flash. However,Â Samsung's pain may be dulledÂ if tumbling chip prices attract consumers into stores, as prices for end-user products using NAND flash memory like PCs, iPods and digital cameras are also expected to drop. In the long run, chip prices will continue to fall throughout 2007 as semiconductor manufacturers try to clear excess chips out of their warehouses, Gordon said. Chip manufacturers do have some cause for optimism, however, as they have already begun to control that inventory by cutting production. If that effort succeeds, the industry could return to modest growth of 8.7 percent in 2008 and 7.2 percent in 2009, he added. Â
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(InfoWorld) - Global PC sales have slowed a tad over the past few weeks as the market waits for Intel to announce new price reductions, market researchers said. The world's largest chip maker is widely expected to publish a new price list on July 22 that shows lower prices for microprocessors aimed at the desktop PC market. The company regularly updates its pricing, but doesn't disclose when or how much prices will change, an Intel spokesman said Thursday. Still, PC makers in Taiwan, as well as analysts and market researchers said they receive word of price changes ahead of time, and that the expected Intel price reductions were the reason Advanced Micro DevicesÂ announced microprocessor price cuts earlier this month. AMD slashed prices on its top-of-the-line desktop PC microprocessors by a few hundred dollars, and now offers six AMD Athlon dual-core microprocessors for below $100 each. The AMD move was aimed atÂ pre-empting Intel's anticipated July reductions, according to a report by investment banking firm Goldman Sachs Group. The expected price cuts are a continuation of Intel's battle for market share against rival AMD. It's a fight that has been great for users, particularly in desktop PCs. Microprocessors are among the most expensive parts in a PC, so price cuts on the chips usually lead to better deals for users, either on lower PC prices or more add-ons, such as better DVD drives, more memory, or larger hard disks. The market share battles have also prompted both Intel and AMD to boost technology, resulting in more bang for a user's buck. The price war hasn't been so good for the companies. Intel's stock fell 4.8 percent to end at $25.06 per share on the NASDAQ stock exchange Wednesday, a day afterÂ the company reportedÂ a lower than expected profit margin for the second quarter. Analysts blamed the price war. The fight with Intel has caused AMD to report weaker earnings in recent quarters, and analysts are not optimistic about its second quarter earnings, which it will report later Thursday in the U.S. "We believe the worse than expected gross margin, higher than expected R&D [research and development] spending and low quality earnings leverage (tax rate changes, sold depreciation, etc.) will cast a shadow over [Intel's] stock," wrote Michael Masdea, chip analyst at Credit Suisse Securities (USA), in a recent report. He predicted that Intel gained market share on AMD in the second quarter, based onÂ its earnings report. Market researchers were not able to say exactly how muchÂ the PC marketÂ has slowed over the past few weeks, but indicated that the weaker sales have shown up in various places in the PC component supply chain. Slower trading in the DRAM (dynamic RAM) market, for example, caused prices to drop last week, according to DRAMeXchange Technology, which runs an online DRAM trading site. The company blamed the anticipated Intel price adjustments for the declines. Â
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What will the future hold for AMD?
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(InfoWorld) - As price competition takes its toll, AMD Thursday posted its third consecutive quarterly loss, saying that although revenue was relatively solid, it suffered a sharp second-quarter drop in income. Revenue for the quarter was $1.38 billion, an improvement from $1.22 billion a year earlier. But the company reported a net loss of $600 million, or a loss of $1.09 per share, a big drop from net income of $89 million, or $0.18 per share, a year earlier. A big part of the loss was due to restructuring costs and a $130 million, or $0.24 per share, charge related toÂ the acquisition of graphics-chip maker ATI last year. One piece of good news was that in the face of stiff price competition from Intel, AMD said its second quarter gross margin was 34 percent, excluding one-time charges, an improvement over its 31 percent margin in the first quarter of 2007. "We achieved a 12 percent sequential revenue increase, improved the gross margin, and won back microprocessor unit and revenue market share," said Robert J. Rivet, AMD's CFO, in a statement accompanying the company results. Looking ahead, AMD forecast that third-quarter revenue would increase in line with traditional seasonal growth rates. Though that does not point to a big increase in profit in the near future, traders reacted positively to the upbeat news on revenue and margins, driving up company shares by $0.32 to $15.78 in after-hours trading. Nevertheless, the second-quarter gross margin, for example, was still a far cry from AMD's 57 percent gross margin in the second quarter of 2006. Rivet acknowledged that to instill confidence in the company, "we must improve our financial results." AMD faces an uphill battle. After gaining ground, in terms of market share and technology, on Intel two years ago by coming out with dual-core processors, AMD suffered last year as Intel battled back with its own line of multicore chips. In the longer term, AMD is pinning its hopes to a great degree on its "Barcelona" quad-core Opteron server chip, due out in August. That chip will compete with Intel's dual-core "Woodcrest" and quad-core "Clovertown" Xeon processors launched last year. AMD also needs to stay on track and hit its 2009 goal to bring its new Fusion chip -- made with ATI technology -- to market.
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Shares of chip maker Advanced Micro Devices Inc. plummeted more than 20 percent in Tuesday trading after the company warned that its fourth-quarter operating income will be "down significantly" from the third quarter.
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With a few strong years of market gains and product reviews, AMD isn't about to rest on its laurels.
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Amid further delays of AMD&#39;s quad-core server chip and plans to write off goodwill from the acquisition of ATI, AMD executives are going to face tough questions when they meet financial analysts in New York Thursday.AMD preempted the analyst meeting with the announcement Wednesday that it plans to take a material charge for impaired goodwill from its US$5.4 billion acquisition of graphics chip maker ATI. But AMD didn&#39;t say how big that charge will be, promising to announce the amount within four days -- a span of time that implies details of the charge will be revealed after the analyst meeting.Goodwill is a financial term that describes the difference between the price that one company paid to acquire another and the net value of the assets that it acquires. This difference, or goodwill, reflects the intangibles that a company acquires, such as the reputation and intellectual property of the acquired company.AMD initially recorded goodwill of $3.22 billion from the acquisition of ATI. That was reduced to $3.17 billion at the end of September, primarily due to changes in income-tax liabilities recorded by the company. AMD&#39;s decision to write off a significant portion of this goodwill is a recognition that ATI is no longer worth the price it paid last year.The expected charge further dims AMD&#39;s gloomy financial outlook. The company has so far lost $1.6 billion this year on sales of $4.2 billion. By comparison, AMD recorded a $410 million profit on sales of $3.9 billion during the first nine months of 2006. At the same time, AMD borrowed heavily this year to keep its operations moving, issuing $3.7 billion in notes that are convertible into company shares.AMD received a further boost last month with a $608 million investment from a company owned by the Abu Dhabi government, but the company still faces significant challenges.Those challenges are reflected in the decline of AMD&#39;s gross margin since last year, partly as a result of the ATI acquisition, which brought lower-margin products into AMD&#39;s lineup, but also because server chips represented a lower percentage of the company&#39;s microprocessor sales. Server chips are generally more expensive and have higher margins than processors used in desktops and notebooks, and strong sales of server chips would give a badly needed boost to AMD&#39;s financial situation.The problem is that AMD&#39;s latest server chip, the Quad-Core Opteron formerly known as&#160;Barecelona has been repeatedly delayed,&#160;giving rival Intel an opening to expand sales of its own server chips at AMD&#39;s expense.After recently discovering&#160;a bug in the Quad-Core Opteron that stopped shipments of the chip, AMD now expects the processor, launched in September, to finally ship in large volumes sometime during the first quarter of 2008. That means the Quad-Core Opteron might not be available to most customers until March, six months after its launch and more than one year after the first pre-production samples of the chip were made available to server makers.While analysts will be looking for more detailed guidance on when AMD expects to ship Quad-Core Opteron chips in volume, they will also be looking for information on the next version of the Quad-Core Opteron, called Shanghai. AMD promised to ship Shanghai during the middle of 2008, but the company has yet to produce working samples of the chip.&quot;We will have initial samples also in January. I&#39;m fairly confident that those puppies are going to boot, and then we can have a follow-up conference call and I&#39;ll tell you, &#39;The sucker is booting,&#39;&quot; said Mario Rivas, the executive vice president of AMD&#39;s Computing Products Group, responding to a question about Shanghai during a recent interview with CRN.Whether that means AMD will release Shanghai in mid-2008 as promised remains to be seen.Shanghai is a 45-nanometer &quot;shrink&quot; of the problematic Barcelona chip, which is produced using a 65-nanometer process. These numbers represent the average size of the smallest feature that can be created on a chip, and smaller is generally considered better.Moving to a more advanced production process offers chip makers several benefits, such as reducing unit production costs by making the chip smaller or adding more features, such as additional on-chip cache. But the move to a more advanced process also carries risks, such as the possibility of lower production yields that can result in limited availability or chips that run at lower clock speeds than expected.Along with these issues looming over AMD, there are questions about the future of Hector Ruiz, the company&#39;s CEO and chairman. As head of the company, Ruiz ultimately bears responsibility for the company&#39;s recent performance problems and the impending write down of goodwill from the ATI acquisition. For months, there has been speculation within the industry that Ruiz would be forced to step down from his current position.However, that&#39;s unlikely to happen, according to a Reuters report citing comments made by Ruiz in a television interview to be aired by CNBC Europe later today. During that interview, Ruiz named AMD President and COO Dirk Meyer as his successor, but scotched speculation he plans to step down next year, the report said.
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Motorola is warning that second quarter sales and earnings will be lower than expected.