OCZ appoints new CEO, warns of revenue shortfall

OCZ Technology has warned investors that its revenue for the quarter is going to be significantly below expectations, but hopes for leniency with the appointment of a new president and chief executive.

Back in September OCZ's president and chief executive Ryan Petersen stepped down for reasons unstated, replaced in the interim by chief marketing officer Alex Mei. Petersen's sudden departure from the company he founded may have been provided with some context by today's statement from the company: second-quarter revenue at the company is down to $78.5 million, compared to an originally forecast $110 million.

That's a serious shortfall, and one for which OCZ is pinning the blame squarely on incentive programmes, including price reductions and cashback schemes, introduced on Petersen's watch.

To be fair to Petersen, OCZ has also admitted that shortages of key components for solid-state storage devices - the company's bread-and-butter since it abandoned the DRAM market entirely - had led to decreased shipments, hurting the revenue stream still further.

With such a major hole in the company's finances, however, investors are clamouring for the company to do something - and something it has done, appointing Ralph Schmitt as the new president and chef executive officer of OCZ. If the name seems familiar, you may be remembering OCZ's purchase of system-on-chip specialist PLX's UK design team back in October last year: prior to his appointment as president of OCZ, Schmitt was PLX's chief executive officer.

With investors looking for OCZ to up its game in an increasingly crowded solid-state storage market, it remains to be seen whether giving up on DRAM was a trifle premature.