Intel has announced the appointment of Lip-Bu Tan as its new CEO, a semiconductor industry veteran who has focused on the software but nonetheless is very familiar with Intel.
Tan previously was CEO of Cadence Design Systems, the maker of software products used to use to design and verify complex electronic systems.
Cadence’s toolset is used by Intel and all of the other major chip designers. It specializes in Electronic Design Automation (EDA) software which is used to design integrated circuits, simulation and verification, PCB design, and optimizing designs so that they can be produced efficiently and cost-effectively.
He was previously a member of Intel’s board but left last year, citing other commitments. However, Reuters reports he disagreed with the board over the direction the company was taking in its painfully slow turnaround strategy. With his appointment as CEO, he returns to the Board of Directors.
Tan effective March 18, replaces interim co-CEOs David Zinsner, who is also CFO, and Michelle Holthaus, head of Intel Products, who took over in December when former Intel CEO Patrick Gelsinger was forced into retirement. Zinsner and Holthaus will return to their previous duties.
The appointment appears to have met with investor approval, as Intel shares rose over 12% in extended trading on Wednesday. It was also greeted positively by analysts.
“This is welcome news for Intel Corporation, as it appoints an industry veteran that has intrinsic understanding of the semiconductor industry, both from a product design aspect as well as the needs of enabling chip manufacturing – an area that Intel Foundry needs help in making their tools more user friendly and accessible for potential customers,” said Jack Gold, president of J.Gold Associates.
“I think he understands the business well,” said Alvin Nguyen, senior analyst with Forrester Research. “There are very few people Intel could have brought in with the right background, and he was one of them.”
He also gave Tan high marks for his time at Cadence. “He was able to keep them relevant of in terms of keeping them the platform to design on. But it’s a different part of the semiconductor industry. Success there doesn’t mean success at Intel, so I’m looking forward to seeing how he addresses things,” said Nguyen.
Tan is coming into a chaotic situation, as Intel has gone through four (one set of co-CEOs) CEOs in the last seven years, has seen significant erosion of market share, and its stock has dropped 60% in value in the past year, to the point that it was removed from the Dow Jones Industrial Average and replaced with Nvidia.
There have been rumors for some time that Intel is up for sale, with everyone from Broadcom to Elon Musk rumored to be the buyer. There is also talk of splitting the company, with the fabs going to one customer — most notably Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) and the semiconductor business going to another. Tan’s appointment should put those rumors to rest experts say.
“Intel has a powerful and differentiated computing platform, a vast customer installed base and a robust manufacturing footprint that is getting stronger by the day as we rebuild our process technology roadmap,” Tan said in a statement issued by Intel. “I am eager to join the company and build upon the work the entire Intel team has been doing to position our business for the future.”
Tan holds a Bachelor of Science in physics from Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, a Master of Science in nuclear engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and an MBA from the University of San Francisco. In 2022, he received the Robert N. Noyce Award, the Semiconductor Industry Association’s highest honor, according to Intel.
Source:: Network World