Kevin, some thoughts on Atiq's resignation,
1. There may have been differences with Jerry on how quicly to ramp the Athlon. 1M units in Q4 is not impressive to me.
2. It is *possible* that Atiq said, "Its you or me, Jerry," and lost. If so, the board of directors will have something to say about it.
3. If Atiq left just because he has a gazillion $, it wouldn't be a sudden departure. Heck, they'd let him keep his title and do no work, rather than upsetting the entire investment community.
4. I've never been a "Jerry hater" on this thread. IMO, without him there would be no K6, no K6-2, no Athlon, but also no Celeron, no SSE and the cheapest CPU would be $200. AMD would be just now escaping about 8 quarters of consecutive losses due to flash and comm group recession, with the prospect for peak earnings of about $2.50. So, ex-Jerry, the downside would have been almost as bad and the upside more limited. That said, if Jerry had anything to do with Atiq's departure, the board should replace him. Maybe thats the meaning of "assess future role."
Petz |
