12/4/2009:
Cuts aimed at operational costs and R&D division
Mobile phone chip maker ST Ericsson is planning to cut upto 600 jobs – 7.5% of its workforce – in a bid to make annual savings of an additional $115m.
This is the latest development in a major restructuring programme at ST Ericsson which has already seen 500 staff cut in November to save $250m and 1,200 redundancies in April to save $230 a year. The savings are to be made through operating cuts and an overhaul of its R&D division.
The company was created by the merger of the wireless chip operations of three groups - Ericsson, NXP Wireless and ST Microelectronics
ST Ericsson supplies chips for mobile phones made by Nokia, Samsung, Sony Ericsson and LG Electronics. In October, the company reported a $121m operating loss on net sales of $728m. Its profitability has been hit by the strong Euro.