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AMD tech chief resigns
With no plans to replace him

By Reuters

Published: Tuesday 15 April 2008

AMD, the second-largest maker of computer processors after Intel, has said Phil Hester, the company's chief technology officer, has resigned and that the company does not plan to refill that position.

An AMD spokesman said: "He is leaving to pursue other opportunities," adding that Hester has not yet disclosed his professional plans for the future.

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Hester's responsibilities will be distributed among the chief technology officers of AMD's individual business units, the spokesman said.

He said: "We don't have any plans to continue that global CTO position," adding that last Friday was Hester's last day at the company.

The spokesman also said Hester's departure was not related to the 10 per cent job cuts that the company announced earlier last week.

The company has struggled with intensified competition from, and market-share losses to larger rival Intel, as well as technical problems with its eagerly anticipated server processor code-named Barcelona.

Hester, 52, headed up an initiative at AMD called "accelerated computing", an effort to use particular circuitry on semiconductors in partnership with mainstream microprocessors to boost computing performance. That initiative will continue, the spokesman said.

Hester worked at server chipset start-up Newisys before coming to AMD. He was also a long-time veteran of IBM.