AMD has replaced Hector Ruiz as chief executive after six turbulent years at the helm, appointing current chief operating officer Dirk Meyer in his place.

The announcement came as AMD reported losses of $1.19bn for the second quarter, nearly twice the $600m it lost in the same period a year ago. The results also represent the seventh straight quarterly loss.

Ruiz will remain on the board of directors allowing him to retain some day-to-day responsibilities, but overall running of the chip manufacturer will pass to 46 year-old Meyer, a star engineering executive at AMD.

Meyer is widely credited with the success of the Athlon processor family that helped usher in a period of rapid innovation at the company and allowed it to gain at the expense of arch rival Intel.

In a statement AMD acknowledged the disappointing financial results but said that it expected improvements in the coming months.

"While we had a disappointing quarter financially, customer adoption of our recently introduced microprocessor and graphics products and platform offerings is strong, and we see increasing momentum across our businesses," said Robert J. Rivet, chief financial officer at AMD.

AMD said that it intends to divest its handheld and DTV units as part of an ongoing reorganisation, and will begin "classifying them as discontinued operations for financial reporting".