Texas Instruments To Ax 1,700 Jobs; Cede OMAP To Nvidia, Qualcomm

By David Zielenziger | November 15 2012 9:35 AM

Texas Instruments Inc. (Nasdaq: TXN), the No. 2 U.S. chipmaker, said it will trim 1,700 jobs at its global semiconductor plants as it reduces its focus on OMAP chips for smartphones and tablets.

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Texas Instruments expects loss of revenue in the first quarter and second quarter as the Japan earthquake caused “substantial damage” to its Miho plant in the country.

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The Dallas-based giant said it would take a $325 million charge in the current quarter for the firings and hopes to have $450 million in savings over the next 12 months.

Reducing production of OMAP processors will likely result in rivals Qualcomm Inc. (Nasdaq: QCOM) of San Diego, and Nvidia (Nasdaq: NVDA), of San Jose, Calif., gaining share in the sector. Neither TI rival has any manufacturing operations, though.

TI “will concentrate on embedded markets,” said Senior VP Greg Delagi, noting that they have higher margins than portable devices. Last year, TI acquired National Semiconductor Corp. for more than $6 billion to bolster its share in that sector, with products designed into autos, machinery, wireless base stations and other products.

The company employs nearly 35,000 workers.

Shares of TI rose 3 cents to $28.79 in Thursday trading, about where they startd 2012.