Intel is to close two chip manufacturing plants and two
test facilities by the end of the year, with up to 6,000 job losses
expected.
The closures are part of plans to "align manufacturing capacity
to current market conditions", the chip maker said.
Intel plans to close older US manufacturing plants at Hillsboro,
Oregon and Santa Clara, California and test facilities in Malaysia
and the Philippines.
The closures would affect between 5,000 and 6,000 employees
worldwide, but some employees may be offered positions at other
Intel facilities, the company said.
Intel last week said it made a $234m profit for the last three
months of 2008, a
90% drop on the same quarter last year.
Making the earnings announcement, Intel said it would cut
production levels to avoid oversupply and halt production at older
plants.
For the full year, sales were down 2% and profits fell 24%. The
bad figures were widely expected as Intel had issued
two previous profit warnings for the period.