Intel's Top Engineer Quits Amid Tech Revamp -- WSJ
July 28 2020 - 3:02AM
Dow Jones News
By Asa Fitch
This article is being republished as part of our daily
reproduction of WSJ.com articles that also appeared in the U.S.
print edition of The Wall Street Journal (July 28, 2020).
Intel Corp. is shaking up its technology team and said its chief
engineering officer was leaving the company days after the
semiconductor maker surprised investors by disclosing delays on its
newest processor design.
The executive, Venkata "Murthy" Renduchintala, had played a
leading role in the company's bid to scale down the size of its
transistors and compete with the likes of Taiwan Semiconductor
Manufacturing Co. and Samsung Electronics Co. Intel said Mr.
Renduchintala, who joined the company in 2015 from Qualcomm Inc.,
would leave Aug. 3.
Intel has stumbled with development of some of its newest
processors. Two years ago, it encountered delays in bringing its
10-nanometer technology to market. On Thursday, Intel shares
plummeted after it said that its move to 7-nanometer chips was
delayed by a year from its initial schedule. Chips that use smaller
transistors can run more efficiently and use up less physical
space.
Intel shares are down around 18% since last week's disclosure.
Long the largest U.S. semiconductor company by value, Intel has now
ceded that title to rival Nvidia Corp.
The company's struggles come as Advanced Micro Devices Inc. has
been winning market share. The smaller rival has won investor
enthusiasm with a series of new chips that match or best those of
Intel on many performance benchmarks. Shares of AMD, which is due
to report quarterly earnings on Tuesday, have risen around 16%
since Intel disclosed its latest product development setback.
Intel also said on Monday it was splitting its technology group
into several teams reporting directly to Chief Executive Bob Swan.
Ann Kelleher, a longtime Intel executive who oversees its
manufacturing operations, will lead the technology development
division, succeeding Mike Mayberry, who is retiring at the end of
the year, the company said. She will be in charge of overseeing the
development of an even smaller chip design.
Intel said its manufacturing and operations are to be led by
Keyvan Esfarjani, who previously oversaw some of the company's
memory manufacturing. It also appointed an interim leader for its
design engineering division, while keeping in place the leadership
of its chip architecture and software strategy and its supply-chain
operations.
Under Mr. Renduchintala, Intel had hoped to iron out chip design
and manufacturing issues that had plagued it in the past. Mr.
Renduchintala said in a presentation to investors last year that
the company had learned lessons from designing 14- and 10-nanometer
chips and was prioritizing the schedule for their 7-nanometer
successors.
Mr. Renduchintala couldn't immediately be reached for
comment.
The changes, Intel said, are intended to "accelerate product
leadership and improve focus and accountability in process
technology execution."
The move follows the departure in June of another high-ranking
Intel engineer, Jim Keller, who left citing unspecified personal
reasons. Mr. Keller is a star chip architect -- a designer of the
structure of chips that plays a major role in how well they
perform. Before his two-year stint at Intel, he had worked at Apple
Inc., Tesla Inc. and AMD.
Intel's latest product development woes come as the Santa Clara,
Calif.-based company benefited from the shift to widespread remote
working during the coronavirus pandemic that has fueled demand for
its chips powering the computers and online services people now
increasingly rely on. The company posted second-quarter earnings on
Thursday that exceeded Wall Street forecasts, though its shares
sank because of the technological delays.
Amid those issues, the company said it was looking at
outsourcing the manufacturing of some of its core products, further
transforming a U.S. tech icon whose prowess has long centered
around its own factories.
Write to Asa Fitch at asa.fitch@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
July 28, 2020 02:47 ET (06:47 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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