Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD), the second-largest maker of processors for personal computers, plans to cut as many as 2,340 jobs, or about 20 percent of its workforce, a source said.
The cuts are expected to be announced as early as next week, said the source, who asked not to be named because the plans have not been made public. According to the source, at least 10 percent of AMD’s staff of about 11,700 will be affected.
AMD is striving to trim expenses to help it cope with sagging demand for personal computers that rely on its processors. Sales in the third quarter will decline about 10 percent from the previous period, a bigger drop than previously forecast, the Sunnyvale, California-based company said on Oct. 11.
“With PC demand being so weak, we don’t think the company has any choice but to do some considerable cost-cutting measures,” said Betsy Van Hees, an analyst at Wedbush Securities Inc in San Francisco.
Cuts of 10 percent to 20 percent are “aligned with what we were hearing from our industry checks as well,” said Van Hees, who declined to name her sources.
The technology site CNET reported earlier yesterday that AMD plans to cut as much as 30 percent of its workforce.
The technology blog AllThingsD said the measure would affect workers in engineering and sales.
Chief Executive Officer Rory Read has already reduced headcount since he was appointed in August last year. AMD slashed 10 percent of its workforce in a round of job cuts announced last November.
In the third quarter of this year, total global PC shipments fell 8.3 percent from a year earlier to 87.5 million, market-research firm Gartner Inc said earlier this week.
Applied Materials Inc, the largest producer of chip-making equipment, said last week it would cut as much as 9 percent of its workforce.
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