Advanced Micro Devices reported a steep loss and declining revenue for its fourth quarter as the chipmaker continued to suffer amid the faltering economy.
AMD reported a loss of US$1.42 billion for the quarter ended Dec. 27, an improvement on its loss of $1.77 billion a year earlier. Revenue fell to $1.16 billion, however, down from $1.74 billion in the fourth quarter of 2007, AMD said.
“The fourth quarter is going to be remembered for the severe stresses placed on the global economy and on our industry,” AMD President and CEO Dirk Meyer said in a conference call to discuss the results. “The global economic environment led to a softening in end-user demand for PCs and servers in what is usually the year’s strongest quarter.”
AMD expects revenue from the first quarter this year to be lower than in the quarter that just ended, it said. It cited the weak economy, limited visibility and “corrections in the supply chain,” meaning computer makers have been cutting orders for chips to clear out excess inventory.
The volume of microprocessors AMD shipped was down in all segments, CFO Bob Rivet said. Average selling prices fell overall, he said, although they were kept afloat in the server segment by new quad-core Opteron chips that shipped in the quarter.