Reports surfaced on Wednesday that chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices may be struggling with its latest notebook platform which may cause a leadership shakeup, or even acquisition.

The company is planning to launch a new system for mobile computers, dubbed the Puma platform, in an effort to fend off the success of larger rival Intel, which commands a lion's share of the notebook computing segment.

One Wall Street analyst believes the company may be facing technical glitches getting the platform ready, however.

Our channel checks suggest AMD's Puma platform for notebooks may have a technical glitch, analyst Doug Freedman of American Technical Research told clients today. We have been unable to confirm this with AMD, he notes.

The Puma platform is slated to ship in the second quarter and AMD insists the product is on track, it said. AMD is not aware of any technical glitches with its next-generation notebook platform, said an AMD spokeswoman.

The Sunnyvale, Calif.-based company gained 29 cents, or 4.52 percent on Wednesday to $6.70.

Following a devastating glitch in its quad-core processors, disclosed in December, the company stands to undermine credibility with vendors and partners if the launch of Puma is botched.

Another mistake could also undermine investors confidence in the firm's leadership, becoming a catalyst for personnel changes, or even putting itself on the auction block. The analysts suggested graphics chip maker Nvidia may be the perfect suitor.

We note that the Intel/AMD road-map of integration of the [CPU and Graphics processor] could pose a risk to Nvidia, and buying AMD propels Nvidia into a formidable competitor for Intel, Freedman explained.

AMD recently reported a fourth-quarter net loss of $1.77 billion, or minus $3.06 per share, compared with a year-ago net loss of $576.0 million, or minus $1.08, per share.

Freedman lowered his September and December quarterly revenue estimates from $1.762 billion and $1.938 billion to $1.615 billion and 1.785 billioin, respectively.

Electronics California Intel