Intel announced today that its Chief Executive Officer, Paul Otellini has decided to retire effective May of next year, a surprising situation that deviates from tradition and triggers the search for a successor in the company, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Typically, Intel leaders remained in charge until the age of retirement of 65 years, as the company gets prepared with a plan for succession. Otellini, 62, announced in a surprising move that he will step down three years before retirement age.
A source close to the situation told the Wall Street Journal that the executive board Intel was taken by surprise by the CEO’s announcement, which told them that it was time for a change of leadership. The Board announced that it will take into account external and internal candidates to take over the CEO job.
Otellini, who spent nearly 40 years at Intel and has been its CEO since 2005, has a term marked by many successes, including strong revenue and profit growth, strengthening Intel’s position as market leader. The previous Intel leadership, under the helm of Craig Barrett, will be remembered for its incoherent technical strategy and bad acquisitions. Intel acquired McAfee software company in 2011 for $7.68 billion strengthening its position on the computer security segment.
But the company failed to make a dent on the IT market out of the computer processor segment, even though it recently came up with a range of microchips for smartphones.
Otellini’s departure comes at a turbulent time for the IT industry which is marred by a decline of PC market, eclipsed by the rise of powerful smartphones and tablets. Intel has succeeded so far to adapt to changes with a strong presence in emerging markets.
However, in the third quarter of this year the revenue fell by 5.5% and profit by 14%, a first signal indicating the impact of declining sales of traditional computers on company business at a time of economic recession.
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