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PARIS (AP) - Chipmaker Texas Instruments says will lay off more than 500 people at a research and development plant near Nice, France, in the coming months.
The Dallas-based company announced last month that it is eliminating 1,700 jobs worldwide as it cuts spending in its wireless business. As the company's biggest smartphone and tablet customers have begun developing their own chips, Texas Instruments is shifting the focus to industrial and automotive customers.
Its factory at Villeneuve-Loubet was primarily dedicated to developing OPAM microprocessors used in smartphones and tablets. Nearly all of the employees at the factory, mostly engineers, will lose their jobs. The company is working with the government to find a new owner for the site.
In all, 517 jobs will be cut. Texas Instruments employs 609 people in France.
(Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
