Read Has Experience With Turnarounds
Lenovo was in the midst of slumping sales in early 2009 when Read, formerly senior vice president of operations, was promoted to a newly created position of president and COO (former Lenovo Chairman Yang Yuanqing also took over as CEO when William Amelio resigned). Since that time, a revamped Lenovo introduced a series of hot new products and also increased its sales and channel presence. Lenovo saw seven straight quarters as the fastest growing major PC maker in the world, and is number three in worldwide PC market share. Read says he's committed to doing the same for AMD. "I know it's not going to be easy. Nothing ever is in this industry," Read told press and analysts. "I want to win. I believe we can be stronger than ever."
AMD has praised Read's operational experience and ability to drive profitable growth. Analysts seem impressed with Read, too. "We believe his track record with Lenovo… will bring the necessary experience needed to improve OpEx and lead AMD’s road map progress," wrote Vijay Rakesh, analyst at Sterne Agee.
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