San Francisco - Struggling computer chip-maker Advanced Micro Devices replaced its CEO Hector Ruiz Thursday, appointing AMD president and chief operating officer Dirk Meyer in his place. 

The move was announced as AMD, which has struggled in recent years to compete with sector leader Intel, reported a loss of 1.2 billion dollars on the quarter. AMD's revenue rose to 1.35 billion dollars from 1.31 billion dollars, but it was short of the 1.45 billion dollars expected by Wall Street. 

AMD shares were down 20 cents, or 3.8 per cent, to 5.10 dollars in after-hours trading. AMD's stock was above 40 dollars as recently as 2006, and the resulting fall has vaporized 20 billion dollars in shareholder wealth. 

Ruiz, 62, has been CEO since 2002 and will continue to serve as executive chairman, focusing on a previously announced plan to develop a new manufacturing strategy that is expected to reduce costs. Ruiz had been one of the few Hispanic CEO's of a top US company. 

Under his tenure, AMD rose to present its greatest challenge to Intel when it launched the Opteron line of chips in 2003. But delays in introducing the chip's successors and a bad 5.6-billion-dollar purchase of graphics chip maker ATI Technologies hit the company's cash flow and profits, forcing it to sell an 8.1-per-cent stake to the Abu Dhabi government's investment arm last November. (dpa)