Raza rises to top in AMD board change

Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) has named Atiq Raza as president and chief operating officer, but Jerry Sanders, the chip maker's embattled chief executive, will remain in the driving seat.

Bob Palmer, former chief executive of Digital, will also join the AMD board. Palmer was credited with focusing Digital on its Alpha processor technology.

He joined AMD when the chip maker acquired rival Nexgen in 1996. Nexgen chip designs were used as the basis for AMD's K6 processor, which reinstated AMD as chief challenger to Intel.

Raza served as executive vice president, joint chief operating officer and chief technical officer at Nexgen. He was appointed as president and chief operating officer of AMD at a board meeting last week, when predecessor Richard Previte was elected vice-chairman of the board. Previte will also continue to act as chairman and chief executive of Vantis, AMD's programmable logic subsidiary, which is being acquired by Lattice.

Two weeks ago, AMD reported revenue of $631.59 million and a net loss of $128.37 million for its first quarter, returning to the red after making a profit the previous quarter. While the company has gained market share over the past year, a price war with Intel has kept down the average selling prices of its processors.

At a shareholder meeting held in conjunction with the board meeting, Sanders was understood to have asked investors to 'reserve judgement for at least another year'.