AMD Taps New Chief Financial Officer

Kumar, 57, previously served as the chip maker's interim CFO following the departure of former CFO Thomas Seifert in September. AMD said Kumar, who has also served as a corporate controller at AMD since 2001 and as a senior vice president since 2006, will report directly to CEO Rory Read.

"Devinder has been with AMD for more than 28 years and is a talented finance veteran with deep industry knowledge," said Read in a statement. "As we accelerate our strategic growth initiatives, Devinder will play an integral role driving the new business model in the near term and strengthening AMD's long-term financial foundation."

[Related: AMD, ARM Join Forces To Produce 64-Bit Server Processors ]

The move marks the latest in a series of executive shake-ups at AMD, including last month's quiet departure of chief design engineer Michael Goddard, who landed a VP role at rival chip maker Samsung.

Bob Feldstein, former AMD business development executive, also left AMD for competitor Nvidia in July.

Meanwhile, AMD is staging a restructuring initiative by which it will eliminate approximately 1,770 employees -- or nearly 15 percent of its global workforce -- over the next year. The layoffs are projected by the chip maker to yield a total of $210 million in savings by the end of 2013.

AMD, alongside fellow x86-based chip maker Intel, has taken a hit financially over the past few quarters, as demand for its notebook and desktop processors continues to slide. Analyst group IHS iSuppli projected last month that AMD will see its annual revenue drop a whopping 17.7 percent year-over-year in 2012, while chip makers like Qualcomm, who produce ARM-based chips for smartphones and tablets, are poised for growth.

PUBLISHED JAN. 2, 2013