SAN FRANCISCO (REUTERS) - Texas Instruments (TI) Inc plans to cut 1,100 jobs in the United States (US), Japan and India, or about 3 per cent of its global workforce, in a corporate restructuring to save US$130 million (S$166 million) by the end of 2014.
The US chipmaker, which in 2012 announced it would lay off 1,700 people as it wound down its mobile processor business, said on Tuesday it wanted to reduce expenses in its embedded-processing division and in Japan.
"Technology markets mature from time to time and you have to rebalance where you spend your money," chief financial officer Kevin March said in an interview. "In the case of Japan, the size of the market there has been declining for a number of years."
Cuts to TI's embedded business are centred mostly on products that have seen slow growth, he said. The job cuts in Japan will include sales and customer support.
TI took a US$49 million charge in the fourth quarter, to be followed by about US$30 million in the first.
The company, which has gradually withdrawn from an intensely competitive mobile phone arena to focus on supplying chips for more lucrative markets like cars and home appliances, posted fourth-quarter revenue above expectations despite a muted recovery in demand.
TI reported fourth-quarter net income of US$511 million, or 46 US cents a share. The US$49 million charge reduced earnings by 3 US cents a share due to the restructuring.
In the year-ago quarter, TI had net income of US$264 million, or 23 US cents.
Revenue rose to US$3.03 billion in the fourth quarter - a little higher than expected - from US$2.98 billion in the year-ago quarter. TI estimated first-quarter revenue of US$2.83 billion to US$3.07 billion.
Analysts on average had predicted US$2.987 billion in revenue for the fourth quarter and US$2.95 billion for the first quarter, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
It said it expects EPS in the first quarter of 36 US cents to 44 US cents.
Shares of TI fell 1.59 per cent in extended trade after closing up 0.92 per cent at US$43.85 on Nasdaq.
