Intel Corp. has given its Chief Engineering Officer, Murthy Renduchintala, the pink slip a few days after disclosing the company has been overtaken by competitors in the microchip manufacturing technology. Renduchintala oversaw Intel's vast hardware development and design organization until the shake-up.
Renduchintala's exit comes on the heels of the chip giant's disclosure that the debut of its cutting-edge 7-nanometer processors would be delayed for at least two years, and following years of setbacks for the group's 10-nm chips as well, which slowed down its manufacturing momentum for much of the laptop market. The company did not specify a reason for the executive's departure.
The move is part of an organizational restructure where Intel's major technology arm will be divided into five units, the company said on Monday. Intel stated that it is reshuffling its technology, systems design and client organization. A new set of officers will report directly to Chief Executive Officer Bob Swan. Twenty-four year Intel veteran Ann Kelleher will lead the development of the group's 7-nm and 5-nm processor technology.
Renduchintala, also a veteran of the microchip industry who served as Qualcomm president for 12 years, was hired by Intel in 2015. He was among three highly respected engineers who was spearheading Intel's campaign to regain its competitive advantage in a fast-evolving market.
The Intel star engineer's departure also marks an increase in pressure on the organization's leadership after a the announcement last week that a third-party manufacturer might make its next-generation chipsets. The announcement wiped $40 billion off the chipmaker's market value and prompted several analysts to doubt the future of the company's manufacturing structure, which has for many years been the foundation of its microchip superiority.
Swan spent a good portion of Intel's earnings call Thursday talking about the likelihood of the company discarding the practice of making its own processors, something it had been undertaking and considered as firmness even after rivals such as AMD outsourced its chip production.
Intel is said to be in discussions with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, where the group might have to go head to head with Qualcomm, Apple, Nvidia, and AMD for the Taiwanese chip behemoth's attention, among other clients.
Swan disclosed that Murthy, as Renduchintala is fondly referred to, will pack up on August 3, as he also announced key changes in the organization's leadership and engineering teams.
A revamp in the executive department and the jockeying for higher posts are part of the rigors of the corporate world. And throughout the microchip empire's over 50-year history, it has almost rarely searched outside its own corridors for executives and has stuck to a tradition of sorts in developing its own leaders.
