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(Bloomberg) — Intel Corp. Chief Financial Officer Dave Zinsner said a formal separation of the company’s manufacturing and product development divisions is an open question that will be decided by the chipmaker’s next leader.
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Zinsner, who is serving as interim co-CEO following the ouster of Pat Gelsinger this month, made the comments Thursday at the Barclays technology conference in San Francisco along with co-CEO Michelle Johnston Holthaus.
Intel’s difficulties in keeping pace with its rivals – along with its deteriorating financial situation – have spurred speculation that the next CEO will make dramatic changes. That includes talks about a spinoff of the company’s manufacturing and product design operations.
“That’s an open question for another day,” Zinsner said in response to an analyst question.
The two units are already operationally separate, with different oversight and accounts, he said. Gelsinger, who served as CEO from 2021 until last week, had argued that it was best to keep the two main parts of the company together.
Shares gained 2.1% to $20.55 as of 12:36 p.m. in New York. They had plummeted 60% as of Wednesday’s close.
The executives broke with their predecessor’s more optimistic messages and emphasized that it will take time to fix Intel’s competitiveness and finances. They pointed to progress in personal computer chips, but also difficulties in data center products. Intel’s outsourced manufacturing effort, which involves making chips for outside customers, is another challenge.
Management will focus less on talk of “early signs of success” and more on concrete achievements, Zinsner said. They will also dispense with giving “meaningless” long-term predictions of the total deal value for the company’s outsourced production efforts, he added.
Johnston Holthaus said Intel needs to invest more in its products and is willing to endure years of downtime in the short term to ensure it has offerings that are more competitive in the long term.
Johnston Holthaus, known internally as “MJ,” also said rival Advanced Micro Devices Inc. has done a better job of providing its shared customers with the data center products they want. In 2025, the executive will focus on trying to stop the loss of market share that Intel has suffered, he said. As part of last week’s restructuring, Johnston Holthaus also assumed the role of chief product officer, placing her at the center of this effort.
