AMD Confirms Ex-Apple And Qualcomm Execs New Focus On SoCs And More

AMD has confirmed its two new mobile chip experts on the team, snagged from Apple and Qualcomm in recent weeks, after reports that the processor company was focusing on SoC-development to take a bite of the smartphone and tablet market. Charles Matar and Wayne Meretsky – who shift over from Qualcomm and Apple, respectively – had been revealed to have joined AMD's ranks earlier this week, though at the time the chip maker declined to detail their new responsibilities. Now, however, the cat is out the bag.

According to AMD, it's not only low-power mobile chips but next-gen server processors that will benefit from the fresh blood.  Matar and Meretsky bring "years of expertise in SoC design and developing 64-bit software ecosystems, respectively," Mark Papermaster, AMD's Chief Technology Officer, said in a statement today. "The fact that these computing experts have returned to the company underscores AMD's unique position and opportunity, based on differentiated IP, to take a leadership position in low-power clients and dense cloud servers."

Matar will take up a role as corporate vice president of SoC Development, where AMD says "he will employ his in-depth understanding of market trends and wireless industry requirements to help AMD shift appropriate focus to client and embedded market opportunities." The exec has previously worked at Motorola and various semiconductor companies, before his stint helping with low-power chip designs at Qualcomm.

As for Meretsky, he will be corporate vice president of Software IP Development, and will bring his code expertise honed from Apple and, before that, P.A. Semi to work on AMD's software development activities. His role will be in "ensuring tools will be in place that will enable developers to take advantage of the compute power in AMD's SoC designs."

"Meretsky is a former AMD Fellow" the company points out, "who was instrumental in making AMD's 64-bit technology the de facto industry standard for PCs, workstations and servers." It also highlights that Meretsky worked alongside Jim Keller back in the P.A. Semi days; Keller was snatched by AMD from Apple, where he was chip architect, last year.