AMD’s turnover from laptop and desktop processors drops sharply due to weak PC market
AMD had 51 percent less revenue last quarter with its Client division, which includes the company’s consumer processors. The chipmaker attributes this to a weak PC market. Turnover from data center products, on the other hand, increased considerably.
Revenue for this Client business was $903 million in the last three months of 2022, according to the quarterly figures. That is 51 percent less than the same period in 2021. AMD explains this by pointing to limited processor deliveries, which stems from the weak PC market and “a significant inventory correction across the entire PC supply chain.”
About that last one says CEO Lisa Su in a verbal explanation of the results that AMD had shipments below consumption during the fourth quarter, allowing customers to use up their existing inventories. AMD, like many other chipmakers, has practiced this practice of undershipping in the last two quarters and will continue to do so to a slightly lesser extent through the current first quarter of 2023. Su thinks PC sales will bottom out during the current first quarter and things will pick up after that.
Other areas fared much better, including the Data Center segment. There, sales increased by 42 percent during the previous quarter and operating income amounted to 444 million, compared to 369 million dollars a year earlier. AMD attributes this increase to higher sales, which was partly offset by increased investment in R&D.
The Embedded segment had a higher turnover of 1868 percent, but that is almost entirely because the turnover of the acquired Xilinx has now been added there; last year, Xilinx’s turnover was not yet included.
Total revenue for the fourth quarter rose 16 percent to $5.6 billion, up from $4.8 billion a year earlier. Net profit fell 98 percent from $974 million to $21 million, which AMD attributes primarily to a series of write-downs related to the Xilinx acquisition.
AMD’s total revenue for 2022 amounted to $23.6 billion, an increase of 44 percent compared to 2021. This was mainly achieved through higher revenue from the Data Center, Gaming and Embedded businesses. Net profit in 2022 amounted to $ 1.3 billion, while $ 3.2 billion remained at the bottom of the line a year earlier.