AMD chief technology officer resigns

Advanced Micro Devices Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer Phil Hester has resigned to search for new opportunities, AMD said Friday.

The decision to leave was Hester's, and he left on good terms, said Rob Keosheyan, an AMD spokesman. Hester hasn't announced what he's going to do or where he's going, Keosheyan said. The company has no plans to replace him.

Hester wasn't responsible for product or silicon development, Keosheyan said. AMD divides those responsibilities between CTOs in five business units, and that will continue. Hester helped establish the breakdown of product development to unit CTOs, Keosheyan said.

The business units in AMD are client, handheld, digital television, graphics and server.

Hester also oversaw AMD's development of areas such as accelerated computing and hiring top engineering talent, Keosheyan said. "While he's been here, he's set up a good foundation to be successful and move forward," Keosheyan said.

AMD's accelerated computing initiative, in which Hester envisioned specialized co-processors working with CPUs (central processing units) to accelerate specific applications, will continue under Mike Uhler, vice president of accelerated computing, Keosheyan said.

Hester's resignation is not associated with AMD's recent announcement that it will cut 10 percent of its work force, Keosheyan said. AMD plans to trim close to 1,650 jobs by the third quarter. The company also lowered its first-quarter revenue forecast "due to lower than expected sales across all business segments."

The company is struggling to ship chips on time and is losing market share to primary competitor Intel.

Hester previously spent 23 years at IBM, where he developed systems including the RS/6000, a Unix server that has now been merged into the Power Systems product line.

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