HardOCP claims Rick Bergman, AMD Senior VP and GM is fired

[chihlidog]

You guys are comparing a senior vice president at a major corporation being fired to yourselves or other people you know who've been fired. A senior VP at a major corporation is NEVER fired for non performance. They may retire, take a less stressful position, move to a different division, etc. Think about it, if corporate execs were held accountable for anything, ever, there would be a whole lot less gaming the system.

What does get execs fired is personal conflict. Telling the wrong person "no," chasing the wrong skirt publicly, getting caught taking bribes, getting caught...

I will re-iterate that I and MANY others (I'm a nobody, but I'm neither stupid nor gullible) believe Kyle Bennett to be a very reliable source. I think he was fired, and I think he was fired for exactly the reasons Kyle stated.

 

[NostaSeronx]

I will re-iterate that I and MANY others (I'm a nobody, but I'm neither stupid nor gullible) believe Kyle Bennett to be a very reliable source. I think he was fired, and I think he was fired for exactly the reasons Kyle stated.

1. Rick was fired
2. Rick couldn't get GlobalFoundries up to speed
3. Rick is the person to blame because us consumers don't have Bulldozer

Okay...

"Llano was late, and execution with Globalfoundries [the spinoff of AMD's manufacturing operations] has been poor," MKM Partners analyst Dan Berenbaum said. "Rick has been around for a lot of the execution problems."

http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20110922-715711.html

 

[blackened23]

This.

And it also can't possibly mean good times ahead for bulldozer, server or desktop.

There are just too many bad omens all lining up here since Dirk's departure in Jan to possibily dismiss their sum total at this juncture

I'm really confused. If i'm understand what i'm reading properly, he mismanaged AMD's sourcing for supplies? Thats not a big surprise,
witness the repeated delays of BD and the non availability of Cypress-XT parts. I'm not in the loop on these things, but it sounds like he
deserved to be fired.

Something has to change at AMD to bring them back to their former glory days - they have a duty to provide returns for their investors.
Their investers want return or blood, and since AMD is languishing they're clearly doing the latter. Some heads must roll to bring about that change.

 

[notty22]

The WSJ story :
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111903791504576587351267372670.html

Chip Maker AMD's Products Chief Departs


By SHARA TIBKEN

Advanced Micro Devices Inc. said Thursday that the head of its products business is leaving the chip maker "to pursue an opportunity at another company," creating a big gap a month after the company named a new chief executive.
The Sunnyvale, Calif., company said its new chief executive, Rory Read, will assume Rick Bergman's duties leading AMD's graphics and microprocessor development teams, while the company looks for a successor.
Under Mr. Bergman's leadership, AMD's graphics business gained market share, and the company introduced a new chip line, dubbed Fusion, that combines graphics and computing on the same piece of silicon. But AMD also has faced delays and production problems with its mainstream computing chip called Llano, and it has seen other executives and engineers leave the company.
"Llano was late, and execution with GlobalFoundries [the spinoff of AMD's manufacturing operations] has been poor," MKM Partners analyst Dan Berenbaum said. "Rick has been around for a lot of the execution problems."
Further details as to why Mr. Bergman left his position as senior vice president and general manager weren't provided, and attempts to reach him were unsuccessful.
Evercore analyst Patrick Wang said Mr. Bergman's departure is a blow for AMD, with Mr. Bergman being a "relatively stable" presence at the company, helping it withstand the challenges of recent years. "Having him leave has got to impact morale," Mr. Wang said.
Mr. Bergman took on a more public role at AMD while the chip maker was searching for a new chief executive. The company had ousted its previous CEO in January and only named Mr. Read, the former president of Lenovo Group Ltd., as the permanent successor late last month.
Before taking over the products group, Mr. Bergman served as general manager of the discrete-graphics business. He joined the company as part of AMD's acquisition of ATI in late 2006.
The chip maker has long faced a tough battle with larger rival Intel Corp. Now, both companies are grappling with rising demand for smartphones and tablet computers, which don't use their chips, and slowing growth in their core PC market. Dirk Meyer left as AMD's CEO in January because of board concerns that he wasn't moving quickly enough to begin offering chips for mobile devices.
Meanwhile, AMD also said Paul Struhsaker has joined the company to lead its newly formed commercial-business division. He will oversee product management and roadmap planning for AMD's server, high-performance computing and embedded products. Previously, he was senior vice president of engineering at cable provider Comcast Corp.

Read more: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111903791504576587351267372670.html#ixzz1YjHAJIfV
​

 

[chihlidog]

1. Rick was fired
2. Rick couldn't get GlobalFoundries up to speed
3. Rick is the person to blame because us consumers don't have Bulldozer

Okay...

It may be just that simple. If it was his responsibility to ensure that the silicon was delivered in the agreed upon amounts, and it wasnt delivered, then yes. Perhaps he didnt take steps beforehand to penalize GloFo for not delivering, perhaps he assured his superiors that the product would be on time and of course now it isnt.

What's hard to believe about that?

 

[NostaSeronx]

It may be just that simple. If it was his responsibility to ensure that the silicon was delivered in the agreed upon amounts, and it wasnt delivered, then yes. Perhaps he didnt take steps beforehand to penalize GloFo for not delivering, perhaps he assured his superiors that the product would be on time and of course now it isnt.

What's hard to believe about that?

I wasn't saying it was hard to believe I'm just putting down what possibly happened

Seems like he was fired because of Poor Llano execution

 

[chihlidog]

I wasn't saying it was hard to believe I'm just putting down what possibly happened

Seems like he was fired because of Poor Llano execution

Ah. I took the "Okay" as a "yeah, right. Apologies.

 

[BlueBlazer]

And it also can't possibly mean good times ahead for bulldozer, server or desktop.

There are just too many bad omens all lining up here since Dirk's departure in Jan to possibily dismiss their sum total at this juncture

More deja-vus from the past Rick Hegberg and Henri Richard, both on the eve of Barcelona launch. :\

 

[NostaSeronx]

More deja-vus from the past Rick Hegberg and Henri Richard, both on the eve of Barcelona launch. :\

This is more due to Llano though than Zambezi

Llano ships in late March
Llano launches in June
Llano goes on sale in July

It looks like Llano overall just stalled Bulldozer

Interlagos ships early September and launches in late September(unknown till it happens) not what usually happens if a chip is awful

 

[Nemesis 1]

IMHO quite often Kyle is spot on. :thumbsup:

YA I agree .But me and kyle don't see eye to eye and are incompatiable were hardware is concerned as were to alike. Stubborn and opionated

 

[Nemesis 1]

It may be just that simple. If it was his responsibility to ensure that the silicon was delivered in the agreed upon amounts, and it wasnt delivered, then yes. Perhaps he didnt take steps beforehand to penalize GloFo for not delivering, perhaps he assured his superiors that the product would be on time and of course now it isnt.

What's hard to believe about that?

HE got fired because GF couldn't meet AMDs deadline . THan he worked out a deal with GF to pay for good dice only . That deal right there was or could be the Tell. GF has to treat all of its customers equally . Giving AMD a contract that allows for paying for good dice only is not legal. We can debate , But why just wait for the first lawsuites. Giving competors using the same outsource an econonmc disadvantage. This wouldn't apply to intel but anyone that Uses GF in an arm like netbook is where the problems will come

 

[Idontcare]

HE got fired because GF couldn't meet AMDs deadline . THan he worked out a deal with GF to pay for good dice only . That deal right there was or could be the Tell. GF has to treat all of its customers equally . Giving AMD a contract that allows for paying for good dice only is not legal. We can debate , But why just wait for the first lawsuites. Giving competors using the same outsource an econonmc disadvantage. This wouldn't apply to intel but anyone that Uses GF in an arm like netbook is where the problems will come

Nemesis, given that TSMC does pricing contracts like this under certain yield conditions it is not unexpected that GloFo would have a similar market model.

The only way the GloFo/AMD pricing contract would be suspect is if it was orchestrated under atypical considerations. Nothing to date has indicated the conditions are atypical.

 

[Nemesis 1]

I sure would like to read a link that TSMC uses these practices. IF I was competing in the GPU market and Ordered in same volumn as any others but at a higher price and I was struggling in market because of price advantage at end of day a large chunk of TSMC money would be transferred to my hands.

 

[Nemesis 1]

Beings how I have about 8,000 more post than my shown replies . I do another reply .

IDC in your opion . will or does Windows 8 change Intels monoploy position in the market . As long as an Arm device can run the same operating system as x86???

 

[AnandThenMan]

AMD is such a mess, I hardly recognize the company anymore. As to supply issues, I fail to see how anyone will be able to make any difference. TSMC is supply constrained, GlobalFoundries has execution issues. The old quote, "real men have fabs" comes to mind.

 

[Phynaz]

New CEO bringing in his new team.

Nothing to see here.

 

[Despoiler]

This is more due to Llano though than Zambezi

Llano ships in late March
Llano launches in June
Llano goes on sale in July

It looks like Llano overall just stalled Bulldozer

Interlagos ships early September and launches in late September(unknown till it happens) not what usually happens if a chip is awful

I've read elsewhere this was exactly the reason BD is late. AMD was still churning out Llano in their fab time.

 

[Googer]

New steppings usually address problems such as bug fixes, clock frequency improvement, minor enhancements, etc. Just like Phenom B2 stepping to B3 stepping (TLB bug fixed). Also the recent Intel P67 chipset problem (fixed in B3 revision). :hmm:

I suppose it's best to hit a home run on the 1st swing. So if that's the case, then the wait is worth it. 'Cause a slight miss will turn off quite a few potential buyers even if the 2nd chance is a triple play.

 

[darkswordsman17]

Not too surprising. I expect to see more in the future. AMD's CPU division has been underperforming (if not almost outright failing) for a while and I'd say its surprising we didn't see more before now.

And yeah, new CEO doing some house cleaning.

The reasoning (sourcing) is kinda suspect. Who else would have really been able to fab AMD's CPUs? I was under the impression that GF's was really the only one doing AMD's type of silicon for CPUs, and I mean, AMD would have been setup completely for GF and vice versa. Its not like they split that long ago. Didn't TSMC drop 32nm? And their 28nm wouldn't have prevented this as it is even more off track. I guess maybe if AMD had been a potential customer TSMC might have kept on with 32nm?

I could definitely see it be Phenom I all over. That really wouldn't be that bad (I wouldn't consider it a death knell) provided they can pull a Phenom II-esque revision (which they seem well on track to doing). The only reason Phenom II is considered a real failure is that they've had to stick with it for so long.

Plus, people forget that they were going through the ATi merger/acquisition and ATi had a huge dud in the 2900 series. Plus, AMD didn't have Llano and Bobcat, both of which are supposed to be fairly successful. Then they have Trinity, new GPUs, and can shrink Bobcat.

Plus if nothing else, AMD seems more aware in prices, so while initial Bulldozer might not be stellar performance wise, AMD likely won't also pricing themselves to complete non-contention with Intel like they did at first with Phenom I (might be wrong on this aspect).

 

[Googer]

AMD is such a mess, I hardly recognize the company anymore. As to supply issues, I fail to see how anyone will be able to make any difference. TSMC is supply constrained, GlobalFoundries has execution issues. The old quote, "real men have fabs" comes to mind.

After the success of the Hammer series of CPUS. AMD used its newly gained profits to over paying for ATi and selling off their profitable nand and nor flash memory buisness and was a huge mistake in my opinion.

AMD should have used their hard won "hammer" profits to invest in the next gen tech to ward off any threats by Intel. I'm not saying ATi hasn't been beneficial for AMD but at the price paid, the benefits have certainly come with dire consequences of lost market share of it's under-performing core product (cpu).

As for building a new fab then months later spinning it off, I cant really say if that were a good deal or not. But an Intel strong point has always been its own manufacturing capabilities.

 

[exar333]

You guys are comparing a senior vice president at a major corporation being fired to yourselves or other people you know who've been fired. A senior VP at a major corporation is NEVER fired for non performance. They may retire, take a less stressful position, move to a different division, etc. Think about it, if corporate execs were held accountable for anything, ever, there would be a whole lot less gaming the system.

What does get execs fired is personal conflict. Telling the wrong person "no," chasing the wrong skirt publicly, getting caught taking bribes, getting caught...

Come on. Not everyone delivers pizzas and makes comments like this from the parents basement. Senior VPs are generally under a lot of pressure to deliver. They are responsible for a lot, and sure they get great pay, but its often a 24/7 job. Just saying its not all 'hookers and blow'.

 

[Nemesis 1]

I've read elsewhere this was exactly the reason BD is late. AMD was still churning out Llano in their fab time.

Now something really exciting to look forward to. AMDS 3rd qt. report.

 

[Nemesis 1]

After the success of the Hammer series of CPUS. AMD used its newly gained profits to over paying for ATi and selling off their profitable nand and nor flash memory buisness and was a huge mistake in my opinion.

AMD should have used their hard won "hammer" profits to invest in the next gen tech to ward off any threats by Intel. I'm not saying ATi hasn't been beneficial for AMD but at the price paid, the benefits have certainly come with dire consequences of lost market share of it's under-performing core product (cpu).

As for building a new fab then months later spinning it off, I cant really say if that were a good deal or not. But an Intel strong point has always been its own manufacturing capabilities.

AMD had NO CHOICE. It was NV or ATI . BUT nv meant a new head of AMD . Funny how things work out and your ass is chewed to shredds over making the wrong choice . But My pocket book loved it .

 

[AnandThenMan]

As for building a new fab then months later spinning it off, I cant really say if that were a good deal or not. But an Intel strong point has always been its own manufacturing capabilities.

AMD was not able to monetize their fab except for short periods, it was an anchor around their neck. Fabs are silly expensive, so you need the volume to make them feasible. AMD should have done the reverse of what they did, keep 100% of their fab, but use the excess capacity for 3rd party business. Now they are in the position of being at the mercy of GloFo, although GloFo obviously needs AMD they are 99% (I think) of their business currently.

Of course the above requires major $$$$, something AMD does not have, as you mentioned the ATI purchase didn't help matters obviously. AMD is backed into a corner when you really think about it, even if they had the best performing products across the board, it would mean nothing if they were unable to produce them in volume.

BTW, I don't think TSMC (or anyone else besides GloFo and of course Intel) are capable of making a processor like Bulldozer.

 

[blackened23]

After the success of the Hammer series of CPUS. AMD used its newly gained profits to over paying for ATi and selling off their profitable nand and nor flash memory buisness and was a huge mistake in my opinion.

It was the right decision but AMD has had many setbacks along the way. Namely, having less cash than would be ideal. The market is going the way of IGP / tablets / smartphones so in the long run it will pay off.