14 DAY TRIAL // AMD has lost yet another key executive, as Stephen DiFranco, the company's corporate vice president of consumer sales and marketing resigned. The chip manufacturer silently announced its departure from the company, and it is alleged that DiFranco was rushed out on the back door mostly because of the company's poor performance during the first quarter of 2008.
DiFranco's job was to promote AMD's processors on the retail market and increase the company's market share for desktops and notebooks. However, the first quarter ended March 21 with extremely disappointing results on both sectors. The company's strategy did not prove to be efficient, and heads had to fall under the investors' pressure.
The departure is dangerously close to the previous resignation of AMD's Philip Hester' other executive who was deeply involved in the backing process of both Opteron and Phenom product lines. It is currently unknown whether AMD's executive staff resigned or got fired.
"It wouldn't be appropriate for me to comment on any specific person's departure but I can tell you we are focusing on elevating our game and fixing some of our execution problems and in so doing, we're going to bring into the company people with better talent and better experience, and you'll see more," said AMD's president and chief operating officer Dirk Meyer. "I'll cite as an example the recent addition of a new CMO and a new CIO to the company," he continued.
During the analysts meeting last week, Meyer also claimed that the company is looking to improve its executive staff, in order to swing back to profit. The recent layoffs across the company's board also affect the executive branch, and it is likely that the company will have to face other executive departures in the near future.
There are no details about what DiFranco will do next, but it is assumed that he will "pursue other opportunities", a classical cliche for the currently unemployed executives.