(Washington29th) Intel, the American chip giant, has been facing a tough year. Not only has its flagship CPU been plagued with issues, but its chip foundry business has also been struggling, leading to significant financial losses. In an effort to save its nearly $10 billion-losing foundry division, Intel announced the successful recruitment of Naga Chandrasekaran from Micron. Chandrasekaran, formerly Micron’s Senior Vice President of Technology Development, will take on the role of Intel’s Chief Operating Officer (COO), overseeing the company’s wafer foundry and supply chain departments.
Intel is eager to reclaim its leadership position in chip manufacturing, but its foundry division reported a loss of $7 billion last year and another $2.5 billion in the first quarter of this year.
In an attempt to turn around the struggling foundry business, Intel announced in May that Kevin O’Buckley, previously of GlobalFoundries and Marvell Technologies, would replace Intel veteran Stuart Pann as head of Intel’s Foundry Services.
The appointment of Naga Chandrasekaran, who spent over 20 years at Micron, underscores Intel’s urgency to improve its foundry business.
In a statement, Intel revealed that Naga Chandrasekaran would assume the role of COO starting August 12, managing global manufacturing operations for Intel’s foundry, including wafer fabrication, assembly testing, strategic planning, and supply chain quality assurance. He will report directly to Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger, highlighting the significance of his role.
