Intel CEO Bob Swan To Step Down in February, VMware CEO Pat Gelsinger To Replace Him (cnbc.com) 41
Intel CEO Bob Swan is set to step down effective Feb. 15. From a report: VMWare CEO Pat Gelsinger will take over the position, sources told CNBC. Intel's stock was up about 13% in premarket trading following the news. VMWare's stock was down nearly 5%. Swan was named CEO in January 2019 after serving as interim CEO for seven months. During Swan's tenure, Intel has suffered blows from competitors. Over the summer, Intel reported that its latest generation chips would be delayed while AMD's were already shipping inside laptops. Apple announced in the fall that it would use its own proprietary chips in its Mac computers, breaking a 15-year partnership with Intel for its chip supplies.
He always was there to get Intel past 10nm woes (Score:1)
Now that Intel's 10nm is performing better (how much better is up to debate, 3 full fabs to make small laptop chips isn't a great sign), he's out, as the fall guy. Presumably paid a lot for this.
Re:He always was there to get Intel past 10nm woes (Score:4, Interesting)
Intel needs a reliable vertical footing that doesnt include the main stairwell, because the rent-a-fabs are taking over everything mainstream.
The people that think Intels problem stems from losing the performance crown are wrong. Intels problem is yields and the solution is chiplettes. They must still be 1 to 2 years away from developing a production-ready chiplette design, as it takes 5 to 6 years to go from initial design to production. Magic bullets here only come in the form of significant process advantages such as the density advantage that their old 3D trigates offered, but no longer do.
A significant process advantage like Intel had before, would now be something like 4nm trigates, a generation ahead on process combined with a novel transistor packing that itself is equal to being a generation ahead. Those days are over. Intel is now, at best and being very generous, about equal on process as everyone else, and Intel also abandoned their novel transistor packing several years ago after wasting about 5 years both trying to get it practical at 10nm and trying to bring the yields up at 14nm, neither of which happened.
The big funny is of course that Intel had once produced a chiplette design, as their original dual core chips were actually two chips side-by-side on an interposer, and also funny is that their "iris pro" also uses a somewhat chiplette design, a cpu module and an edram module side by side on an interposer.
It is precisely the focus on performance that is in error, an error that outsiders often make when evaluating intels market position, and clearly also an error that Intel has made. The focus should be on the economics of it and that is where Intel is really failing badly. Intel has not failed to produce 10nm chips, since they have been in production for years. They cannot produce them in volume due to bad yields, but their smallest 10nm designs (best yields) have been in production for years, but those small chips dont perform anything like their 14nm monoliths do, only have 2 cores, and dont make intel much money, at all, and wouldnt even at massive volume, until yields improve.
Re: He always was there to get Intel past 10nm woe (Score:2)
"It is precisely the focus on performance that is in error"
Yes, an error that Intel has made.
It is Intel that focused on performance all those years, and wound up fucking themselves.
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Intel has no realistic choice other than to sell its fabs. They have value, but not to a cutting edge processor maker. The longer they take to come to terms with this the worse it will be for Intel. Actually, the writing has been on the wall for at least 3 years, if not way back when AMD bit the bullet because of having no choice financially.
The Titanic needs a new captain... (Score:3)
ARM is sinking the Titanic
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ARM is sinking the Titanic
I've never understood the fascination with Adjustable Rate Mortgages here.
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Re: The Titanic needs a new captain... (Score:2)
TSMC did the damage, ARM/Apple/Amazon/AMD are of much more minor importance ... they rode the wave TSMC made, or in Apple's case just bought most of the wave.
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True, TSMC and Samsung did the damage. But it was ARM that funded it.
Did you mean the iTanic? (Score:2)
So they are putting a guy whose former company's sole purpose was to do everything you can do with a microprocessor except make a microprocessor in charge of a company whose product is making microprocessors?
Bring back the iTanium! we can virtualize it to work just like an ARM.
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>So they are putting a guy whose former company's sole purpose was to do everything you can do with a microprocessor except make a microprocessor
Pat Gelsinger used to work at Intel. He's spent a less time at VMWare.
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Pat Gelsinger was a loser at VMWare, seems ideal to preside over the sinking of Intel.
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Indeed it is.
And when I look farther upstream, I see Risc V flooding its torpedo tubes, with ARM in its sights. It'll be a few years before they open outer doors, but in the meantime, ARM will have to work hard to ensure the competitve advantages it brings outweighs the burden of its licensing.
Intel CEOs have NOT competent for years. Opinion. (Score:5, Interesting)
Intel CEO apparently has no technical knowledge [slashdot.org] (Aug. 21, 2019)
Intel stuck with $1.45 billion fine in Europe for unfair and damaging practices against AMD. [extremetech.com] (June 13, 2014)
A Slashdot comment of mine from 14 years ago: More Intel employees should say in public what they have told me in private: Intel CEO Paul Otellini is not a competent leader. He lacks social ability. [slashdot.org] (June 9, 2006)
My opinions.
Intel CEOs have NOT been competent for years. (Score:2)
As I have said many times over many years, those are my opinions.
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FYI, if you didn't know, Pat Gelsinger was a former Intel executive. He left because he wanted to a CEO, and look whos back. Not that it will help. He is also another non engineer guy.
I'm glad their stock went up on the move. Give people time to get out.
Re:Intel CEOs have NOT competent for years. Opinio (Score:5, Informative)
Pat Gelsinger, an electrical engineer, was the chief architect of the 486. How is he "another non engineer guy"?
Thank you, Guspaz commenter! (Score:5, Informative)
Intel's Patrick Gelsinger on the hot seat [networkworld.com] (June 5, 2008) Quote from that story:
"Patrick Gelsinger is an electrical engineer. He joined Intel in 1979, worked on the design of the 80286 and 80386 microprocessors, and was the chief architect for the 80486 chip."
Another story: How Pat Gelsinger saved VMware [vsphere-land.com]. That article gives part of New Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger's history. (Nov. 14, 2017)
Gelsinger and Meyer: Two CPU Designers Who Changed the World [smartbear.com] (Feb. 11, 2013)
Quoting 3 paragraphs:
"Gelsinger is the more famous and recognized of the two engineers because he was with Intel for so long and was often its public face, especially after the retirement of Intelâ(TM)s charismatic CEO, Andy Grove.
"Gelsinger joined the company in 1979 right out of high school. The recruiter's note on him is somewhat legendary: "Smart, arrogant, aggressive -- he'll fit right in." He did. Gelsinger worked his way up through the company's ranks, and also through school. Intel would cover his tuition so long as he maintained a B average.
"While working on the 80286 project, Gelsinger earned a B.S. in electrical engineering, and he got his Masters degree from Stanford while working on the 386. By the time Gelsinger was 25, Andy Grove offered to let him lead the 80486 project to keep him from quitting the company, since Gelsinger wanted to go to Stanford full time to earn his PhD in electrical engineering."
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It's all part of the new way of doing business. Previous CEOs have had engineering experience but the latest was of the MBA type. So you gut the company of technology and get yourself rich in the process. Intel is now a shell of its former self and the leeches have gotten fat and looked for new blood.
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Bob Swan didn't even work for Intel in any capacity until October, 2016.
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While Intel is a sinking ship under shitty leadership I caution against reading too much into the CEO of a company having "technical knowledge". While that kind of thing is essential for a startup it's not necessarily a benefit for a large multinational business. Hell in many cases having overly technical leaders becomes a hindrance as they stifle innovation through their own micromanagement of technical directions.
For many leaders being able to separate their own technical knowledge from running the busine
X86 should have died on the drawing board (Score:3)
Re: X86 should have died on the drawing board (Score:3)
ISAs are of such minor importance for both performance and security of wide superscalar processors I don't get the venom directed at x86.
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Same reason people get excited about whether or not language X has favourite syntactic sugar Y?
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Lol. Somebody piss in your cornflakes this morning?
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But that's not all that important for the performance.
Apple buying over 12 months of process advantage on say AMD did far more for their performance advantage than ARM vs x86.
What will his swan song be? (Score:3)
Sorry, I couldn't resist the pun.
Not sure VMware's leadership is an improvement (Score:5, Insightful)
VMware has been working as hard as it can to squander the market dominance it had, I'm not sure if Pat's ideas of jacking up licensing and selling overcomplicated side features is going to be a winner for Intel.
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"Kicking" Pat Gelsinger is an Intel alum.
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Going Home Again (Score:4, Interesting)
I remember when EMC hired him away from Intel where he was the CTO. He was one of the top executives, and could easily have ended up as CEO of EMC had things gone differently. I'm not at all surprised Intel wants him, and he has been at VMWare for a long time now, so it's not surprising that he's looking for a new challenge.
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Infighting starts... (Score:1)
The infighting starts on who will captain the sinking ship.
Damn (Score:2)
I'm really going to miss Intel. With this bozo running the show, it's going to be liquidation time sooner than later.