AMD is hurting; there is no doubt about that. Ever since Hector Ruiz took the helm the company has been hemorrhaging cash at a rate that would make most accountants gibber.

But what is the root cause of this problem? It is true that AMD has failed for the last several launches to make a product that can compete head to head with Intel. After going from the days of having a slower clocked yet faster CPU than Intel, AMD is now asking for a Price to Price comparison. Oddly enough their CPUs are the ones that are slower per clock now and there is no end in sight.

Why is all of this happening? Well According to Theo Valich it is due to extremely poor leadership. While we all know that AMD paid far too much for ATi (about twice what ATi was actually worth) and it promised too much wealth to its CEO (Hector) we do know it has some great minds in there that can make fantastic products. But there does not seem to be anyone at the top capable of leading them back to profitability.

Even Dirk Myer, the man who many hoped would turn the company around cannot be taken seriously when he remarks that netbooks will fizzle out in a couple of years. I am reminded of the mistakes Intel made in holding onto the NetWurst (Netburst) Marchitecture during the awful days of the Pentium 4. Maybe AMD needs to take a look at its line up and let some fresh ideas in.

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