01/09 22:56
Motorola to Close 3 More Chip Plants, Cut 4,000 Jobs (Update1)
By Alan Patterson
quote.bloomberg.com
Hong Kong, Jan. 10 (Bloomberg) -- Motorola Inc., which has been unprofitable since the first quarter last year, said it will close three more chip plants worldwide, cutting more than a tenth of its semiconductor workforce, to return to profit this year.
``Two facilities in Sendai, Japan and a site in Austin, Texas'' will be shut, said spokeswoman Gloria Shiu, confirming a report on the Web site of EETimes, a U.S.-based trade journal. ``Other cuts will come from administrative jobs around the world.''
Motorola will close a chip-making plant and a semiconductor- packaging facility in Sendai called Tohoku Semiconductor Co. and cut 4,000 jobs in its chip business. Production from the Sendai plants will be moved to locations in Chandler, Arizona; Eastkilbride, Scotland and another facility in Sendai.
The second-largest maker of mobile phones employs about 30,000 workers worldwide in its chip-making business. Motorola doesn't plan to farm out more production to other companies as a result of the plant closings.
``Most of the production will be consolidated within our own operations,'' Shiu said in an interview. |
