AMD posts R900 million loss despite next-gen console boost

AMD has released its financial results for Q4 2013 alongside its full 2013 annual results, showing that the semi-custom AMD APUs, which are used in the Xbox One and PS4, significantly boosted their revenue although the company still posted an overall loss for 2013.

Microsoft and Sony launched their next-gen consoles in November 2013, powered by AMD APUs. Combined, the two consoles sold more than seven million units in less than two months.

For Q4 2013, AMD reported revenue of $1.59 billion, an increase of 38 percent on the previous year. The number we are interested in – AMD reported operating income of $135 million (±R1.47 billion). Operating income is basically profit before tax and interest.

For the first quarter of 2014, AMD expects revenue to decrease 16 percent, plus or minus 3 percent, sequentially.

For 2013 overall, AMD reported revenue of $5.3 billion, down 2 percent year-over-year, and 2013 operating income of $103 million (±R1.12 billion).

AMD reported a 2013 net loss of $83 million (±R900 million) and loss per share of $0.11.

“Strong execution of our strategic transformation plan drove significant revenue growth and improved profitability in the fourth quarter,” said Rory Read, AMD president and CEO. “The continued ramp of our semi-custom SoCs and leadership graphics products resulted in a 38 percent revenue increase from the year ago quarter. Our focus in 2014 is to deliver revenue growth and profitability for the full year by leveraging our differentiated IP to drive success in our targeted new markets and core businesses.”

Looking forward to 2014, AMD has a few balls in the air.

AMD began shipping their next-generation AMD A-series desktop APU codenamed “Kaveri” targeting desktops, notebooks, embedded systems and servers. “Kaveri” is the first APU to include Heterogeneous System Architecture (HSA) features, AMD TrueAudio technology, and support for AMD’s Mantle API.
AMD announced low-power APU offerings for 2014 with the addition of “Beema” and ultra-low power “Mullins” mobile APUs.
AMD launched a new family of mobile discrete GPU products. The AMD Radeon R9, R7, and R5 M200 Series mobile GPUs are powered by Graphics Core Next (GCN) architecture and bolstered by the Mantle API. Dell, Lenovo, MSI, and Clevo have announced notebooks featuring the new GPUs.
AMD FirePro professional graphics products gained momentum, with Apple launching its new Mac Pro, featuring dual AMD FirePro GPUs. AMD also announced the new AMD FirePro S10000 12GB Edition.
AMD was awarded a multi-year research project associated with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Extreme-Scale Computing Research and Development Program, known as “DesignForward.” The “DesignForward” award supports the research of the interconnect architectures and technologies needed to support the data transfer capabilities in extreme-scale computing environments.