AMD has succeeded when it bought up good companies, the K8, came from the work of DEC Alpha which they purchased and poached their engineers from. The graphics came from ATI. What AMD needs to do as a strategy is work on getting good people, they got SeaMicro. They should have looked at buying ARM long ago when they would have been affordable to them. I don't think AMD has success when they try and create on their own ... had I been CEO, I'd have just been looking for solid companies and snapping them up and adding to their IP, which is why Intel really kicks their axx, not only do they have the manufacturing prowress but they have a huge leg in research.
Had AMD had this approach long ago they'd be solid, it seems they don't cultivate or acquire talent very well by just hiring them to AMD.