German computer chipmaker Infineon Technologies AG on Monday appointed Wolfgang Ziebart, who has worked for automotive supplier Continental AG and automaker BMW, as its new chief executive.
The 54-year-old will replace Ulrich Schumacher, who quit unexpectedly in March. Ziebart will take up the post by Sept. 1, the company said in a statement.
Ziebart started out at BMW in 1977, taking responsibility for the development of electronics and rising to the automaker's management board in 1999.
He joined Continental in October 2000, heading the company's automotive systems division and focusing on automotive electronics and electronic braking systems.
Munich-based Infineon is the world's No. 3 maker of DRAM -- or dynamic random access memory -- chips, behind Samsung Electronics and Micron Technologies.
return to profitability
The company returned to profitability in the July-September quarter last year after nine straight quarters of losses, a period during which the chipmaking industry was battered by falling demand from companies for new computers.
The company made a US$46.3 million net profit for the first three months of this year, citing higher sales despite continued price declines and a weak dollar.
Schumacher had been chief executive since Infineon was formed from parent company Siemens AG in 1999. Siemens has since reduced its stake in Infineon to around 19 percent.
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