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Intels mobile executives are moving upward.
Following its second-quarter earnings release, the Santa Clara, Calif., chip maker told employees on July 19 that senior executives Sean Maloney and David Perlmutter have been promoted, giving them more responsibility over the companys day-to-day operations.
Maloney, who ran the companys Mobility Group along with Perlmutter, is now Intels Chief Sales and Marketing Officer and in charge of Intels Sales and Marketing Group, replacing Eric Kim and Anand Chandrasekher. Perlmutter, a senior vice president at Intel, is now running the Mobility Group, the company said in a statement.
The management shakeup, announced by Intel on July 20, drives for quicker decision making.
It reduces the number of executives who report directly to Paul Otellini, Intels CEO, and largely eliminates Intels practice of two-in-a-box management where two executives run one group together.
Otellini, who has been leading a major review and reorganization of Intels business practices launched in April, will thus have more time to focus on larger strategic initiatives.
The review has also seen Intel lay off 1,000 managers in an effort to improve communication and decision-making.
“As part of the thorough analysis of Intel begun in April, we have examined the focus and structure of our top management level, including our use of two-in-a-box co-managers,” Otellini said in a July 20 statement.
“The moves announced today will help us speed decision-making and bring new resources to bear in critical areas, while allowing me to spend more time on key strategic issues.”
Maloney, who served as the steward for the introduction of Intels Centrino brand and has been a rising star at Intel—one many industry insiders believe could eventually take the helm as CEO—will be responsible for determining Intel product strategies and pricing. Perlmutter takes on responsibility for Intels product development and technology development efforts, analysts said of the changes.
Given that Intels Mobility Group has been a driving force behind the companys revenue growth and profitability of late, as well as yielding the basis for its new Core 2 Duo and Xeon 5100 chips, the company appears to be attempting to leverage the skills of its two most senior executives on a broader scale, analysts said.
The executive changes will increases management accountability, Technology Business Research analyst Martin Kariithi, an analyst at Technology Business Research, in Hampton, N.H., wrote in an e-mail to eWEEK.
“Intel is hoping to leverage the skills of the two successful executives [Maloney and Perlmutter] on a broader scale to try and revive other areas that the company is struggling with. TBR views the product pricing and product positioning along with sales and marketing responsibilities that will be handled by Sean Maloney as crucial to the companys financial successes as Intel battles upstart AMDs [Advanced Micro Devices] incursions and seeks to expand into new product and geographical markets,” Kariithi wrote.
“TBR believes Sean Maloneys promotion is a signal that Mr. Maloney is being groomed as a possible eventual successor to CEO Otellini,” he added.
Intel also shuffled other Mobility Group veterans into key roles. Don MacDonald, who once served as director of mobile platforms for Intel, is now its vice president of marketing and brands. MacDonald now reports to Maloney.
Eric Kim, who joined Intel from Samsung and devised the Intel Core brand, replaced MacDonald as head of Intels Digital Home Group.
Anand Chandrasekher is now running a newly formed low-power processor business group within the Mobility Group. Chandrasekher now reports to Perlmutter.
The low-power chips will be targeted at markets such as UMPCs (ultramobile PCs). Otellini has singled out the UMPC as one area of growth for Intel in the future.
Bill Siu, who had been general manager of Intels Channel Platforms Group, and Richard Wirt, co-general manager of Intels Software Solutions Group, will both retire at the end of the year.
Renee James, co-general manager of the Software Group, will continue as its general manager, following Wirts retirement.
The Channel Platforms Group, responsible for distributing Intel chips via resellers, will ultimately report to Maloney via the Sales and Marketing Group. A general manager for the Channel Platforms Group will be named later, Intel said in a statement.
Editors Note: This story was updated to include more information and comments from Intel.