Intel Corporation Loses Another Key Executive, COO Kim Stevenson Quits

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Intel is losing key executives one after another, and this time it is its COO. Kim Stevenson announced her departure on Twitter, saying she’s “on to new adventures,” according to Oregon Live. Last August, Stevenson was promoted to be the chief operating officer of Intel’s largest business unit.

Executive exodus continues at Intel

In a note to employees, Intel President Murthy Renduchintala announced Stevenson’s departure, saying that she brought “passion, operational excellence, leadership and industry savvy” to her job.

“I am excited for Kim as she embarks on her next journey, but find it difficult to see a strong leader leave,” said Murthy, adding that he is looking at options for filling her role.

Stevenson left Hewlett-Packard in 2009 to become Intel’s vice president of information technology and then was promoted to become Intel’s chief information officer in 2012.

Last year, Intel’s management went through a series of shakeups. Amid this, Stevenson was made in charge of the group that manages its mobile division, PC business and its emerging focus on the Internet of Things. This division is collectively named “Client and Internet of Things Businesses and Systems Architecture,” or CISA.

The executive ranks at Intel have been in a state of flux since the middle of 2015 when the company lost its president, Renee James. Since then, the chip maker has replaced many of its top managers. It named a new president, appointed a new chief financial officer and chief information officer, and just last month, it appointed a new head of human resources, notes Oregon Live.

Good earnings numbers

Intel axed 13% of its workforce last year, eliminating about 15,000 jobs. This helped the chip maker prepare for the protracted decline in its core business making microprocessors for PCs and laptops.

For Intel, the fourth quarter was good. It reported revenue of $16.3 billion, up 10% on a YoY basis and beating the consensus forecast of $15.75 billion. The results also solidified 2016 as a comeback year for the Silicon Valley company.

Intel has been making attempts to get into the mobile phone business for several years. Just last year, it finally secured a deal with Apple to provide chips for the iPhone 7. Also the chip maker is trying to push further into the cloud computing space. A year-over-year rise of 8% was seen in revenue from the Data Center Group.

On Monday, Intel shares closed down 0.68% at $36.27. In the last year, the stock is up almost 25%.

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