Intel Corp is replacing its chief executive officer after only two years in what had been a rough stretch for the chipmaker.
Bob Swan, who became the company’s CEO in early 2019, is in the middle of next month to be replaced by industry veteran Pat Gelsinger, the company said.
The choice of Gelsinger, who decades ago started his career as an Intel engineer, puts the semiconductor pioneer back in the hands of a tech expert at a time when it is struggling to keep up with market changes and growing competition.
Photo: Reuters
On Wednesday, Intel’s stock jumped 7 percent on news of the change at the top.
The California-based company said that the change in leadership is unrelated to its financial performance last year, but the surprise shake-up followed several weeks of investor activism by hedge fund Third Point LLC, which had pushed for big changes.
Intel late last month acknowledged that it had received a letter from the New York-based fund and was working with it on ideas “regarding enhanced shareholder value.”
Third Point CEO Daniel Loeb on Wednesday wrote on Twitter that “Swan is a class act and did the right thing for all stakeholders stepping aside for Gelsinger.”
Intel spokesman William Moss said that the leadership change “was not driven by Third Point.”
Intel chairman Omar Ishrak said in a prepared statement that “the board concluded that now is the right time to make this leadership change to draw on Pat’s technology and engineering expertise during this critical period of transformation at Intel.”
the chipmaker last year disclosed that there would be a substantial delay in its development of a next-generation process already in use by other major suppliers, including Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電).
The unexpected snag meant that Intel’s 7-nanometer processing technology is unlikely to be ready until the end of next year or early 2023, potentially putting the company behind its rivals.
Apple Inc last year also dealt a blow to Intel when it began replacing Intel processors with Apple-designed chips in its new computers.
Intel faced yet another challenge when US graphics chipmaker Nvidia Corp announced plans to buy UK-based Arm Ltd in a deal that would create a global powerhouse in the industry.
Gelsinger has since 2012 been CEO of software company VMware Inc and has more than four decades of experience in the industry. He spent most of that time with Intel, where he began his career and was its first chief technology officer.
Swan, a former chief financial officer at Intel, assumed interim leadership in 2018. His finance background, including top finance roles at eBay Inc and several other firms, marked a shift for Intel, which has mostly had engineers at the top since its 1968 founding, although its fifth CEO was an economist.
Swan said in a prepared statement that it is the right time for a transition and that he fully supports Gelsinger’s arrival.
South Korea’s equity benchmark yesterday crossed a new milestone just a month after surpassing the once-unthinkable 5,000 mark as surging global memory demand powers the country’s biggest chipmakers. The KOSPI advanced as much as 2.6 percent to a record 6,123, with Samsung Electronics Co and SK Hynix Inc each gaining more than 2 percent. With the benchmark now up 45 percent this year, South Korea’s stock market capitalization has also moved past France’s, following last month’s overtaking of Germany’s. Long overlooked by foreign funds, despite being undervalued, South Korean stocks have now emerged as clear winners in the global market. The so-called “artificial intelligence
NEW IDENTITY: Known for its software, India has expanded into hardware, with its semiconductor industry growing from US$38bn in 2023 to US$45bn to US$50bn India on Saturday inaugurated its first semiconductor assembly and test facility, a milestone in the government’s push to reduce dependence on foreign chipmakers and stake a claim in a sector dominated by China. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi opened US firm Micron Technology Inc’s semiconductor assembly, test and packaging unit in his home state of Gujarat, hailing the “dawn of a new era” for India’s technology ambitions. “When young Indians look back in the future, they will see this decade as the turning point in our tech future,” Modi told the event, which was broadcast on his YouTube channel. The plant would convert
‘SEISMIC SHIFT’: The researcher forecast there would be about 1.1 billion mobile shipments this year, down from 1.26 billion the prior year and erasing years of gains The global smartphone market is expected to contract 12.9 percent this year due to the unprecedented memorychip shortage, marking “a crisis like no other,” researcher International Data Corp (IDC) said. The new forecast, a dramatic revision down from earlier estimates, gives the latest accounting of the ongoing memory crunch that is affecting every corner of the electronics industry. The demand for advanced memory to power artificial intelligence (AI) tasks has drained global supply until well into next year and jeopardizes the business model of many smartphone makers. IDC forecast about 1.1 billion mobile shipments this year, down from 1.26 billion the prior
People stand in a Pokemon store in Tokyo on Thursday. One of the world highest-grossing franchises is celebrated its 30th anniversary yesterday.
RSS