Intel Corp. announced Tuesday a series of high-level management changes in its microprocessor development and manufacturing operations.
The semiconductor maker named Mike Splinter executive vice-president and general manager of its Technology and Manufacturing Group, giving him added responsibility for the ramp-up of key high-performance products such as the Pentium III chip and the upcoming Pentium 4 device that’s due for introduction this quarter.
In addition, Splinter will oversee Intel’s conversion to a more advanced microprocessor manufacturing process, a move that’s scheduled for next year. Splinter, 50, joined Intel in 1984 and has headed its component manufacturing operations for the past 12 years. He had been a senior vice-president since January 1999.
Intel said Splinter would continue to share responsibility for the technology and manufacturing operations with Sunlin Chou. However, Chou now reports to Splinter after previously co-managing the manufacturing operations with him, according to an Intel spokesman.
In addition, the company said Paul Otellini would take over sole management responsibility for its Intel Architecture Group, which is in charge of product road maps, design methodology, enterprise computing initiatives and the launch of the Itanium microprocessor line. Otellini also is an executive vice-president at Intel.
Albert Yu, a senior vice-president who previously co-managed the architecture unit with Otellini and had headed Intel’s microprocessor development activities since 1984, will now run an emerging-business unit focused on optoelectronics, the company said.
The management changes come two months after a processing glitch forced Intel to stop production of a new 1.13-GHz Pentium III chip and recall the devices that had been shipped. That was the second recall by the company this year, following an earlier move to replace about one million PC motherboards built around its 820 chip set because of a faulty component.
More recently, sources at PC makers said the scheduled release of the Pentium 4 had slipped from this month to November. However, Intel said it was sticking to a more general schedule calling for that device to be ready before year’s end.
