Intel announced plans in April to lay off 12,000 employees worldwide or 10% of its total workforce of 107,000 staffers. The first employees to be laid off were the ones working on doomed product lines such as its Atom mobile processors. Now it appears sales and marketing executives are in the line of fire.
Major changes to internal structure
Intel is making an attempt to wean itself off the dwindling desktop computer market. A spokesperson for the chip maker told The Register that the focus of the company as of now is on shifting away from desktop CPUs.
“To support our transformation, we are restructuring our sales organization to drive tighter alignment with Intel’s business units and fuel our growth engines. Customers can expect to see more specialized technical support, faster decision making, and streamlined processes with a strong focus on enabling a consistent and personalized customer experience,” the spokesperson said.
The number of employees Intel will be firing from sales and marketing in this latest round of cuts out of the 12,000 total is not specified as yet. DigiTimes stated that the chip maker will shed employees by the end of this month.
Also Intel offices around the world will now be required to directly report to U.S. headquarters rather than to their nearest regional head office. From now on, big processor buyers such as China-based Lenovo and Taiwan’s Acer will directly deal with the teams in California, the report says.
Intel selling its Security unit
Intel may also be pondering the sale of its Security unit, according to the Financial Times. Six years ago, the company spent $7.9 billion on acquiring McAfee, its biggest purchase up to then. To maintain its distance with the misadventures of McAfee founder John McAfee, it rechristened the cyber-security unit as Intel Security after a few years. With the acquisition, the chip maker aimed to bake McAfee’s anti-virus and security expertise into its chips, mainly in mobile devices and tablets, a segment where the company has struggled for several years.
Intel may be looking at making more acquisitions in the near future, despite the layoffs and potential sale of the cyber-security division. CEO Brian Krzanich told Fortune a few weeks ago that there does not exist a shopping list per se, but it is definitely interested and capable of making acquisitions going forward.
At 11:51 a.m. Eastern, Intel shares were up 0.65% at $30.92. Year to date, the stock is down almost 12%, while in the last year, it is down almost 1%. The stock has a 52-week high of $35.59 and a 52-week low of $24.87.
