AMD Names New CEO

Shortly after reporting its seventh consecutive quarterly loss, Advanced Micro Devices on Thursday said it has replaced chief executive Hector Ruiz with president and chief operating officer Dirk Meyer.

Ruiz will become executive chairman of the chipmaker and chairman of the board. The announcement came as AMD, which has struggled against its larger rival Intel, reported a second-quarter loss of $1.19 billion, or nearly double the loss reported during the same period a year ago. Revenue for the quarter, however, was slightly higher, rising to $1.35 billion from $1.31 billion a year ago.

Board member Robert Palmer said in a statement announcing the executive shuffle that Meyer's election to CEO is "the final phase of a two-year succession plan developed and implemented jointly by AMD's board of directors and executive team.

"Dirk's extensive experience as a business leader and his notable engineering accomplishments before and during his 12 years at AMD make him ideally suited to build upon the foundation Hector created and lead AMD," Palmer said.

Ruiz praised Meyer as a "gifted leader who possesses the right skills and experience to continue driving AMD and the industry forward. I am placing the company in excellent hands."

Meyer, 46, led the company's microprocessor business from 2001 to 2006, overseeing research and development, manufacturing, operations, and marketing. In 2006, he was appointed president and chief operating officer, and was elected to AMD's board of directors.

AMD is in the process of trying to reshape its business and differentiate its product line by integrating the graphics technology obtained through the 2006 acquisition of ATI Technologies with AMD's general-purpose x86 microprocessors. "My immediate priority is to work with the leadership team to accelerate this transformation," Meyer said.

Ruiz, 62, joined AMD as president and chief operating officer in January 200, and has serviced as CEO since April 2002.

After a few years of gaining market share from Intel, particularly in processors that power computer servers, AMD has failed to keep up with Intel in moving its processors to next-generation manufacturing processes that deliver higher performance without increasing energy consumption. Intel started moving its chips to the so-called 45-nanometer process late last year. AMD is expected to release its first 45-nm chips this year.