Intel axes 1,000 jobs at Flash plant

Rio Rancho facility facing closure.

Intel is to close one of its Flash memory operations in a move that could cost more than 1,000 jobs.

The losses will affect workers at the 130nm Flash memory production facility at Intel's Rio Rancho plant near Albuquerque, New Mexico. The 130nm chips will still be produced at Intel's other plants.

Intel blamed the closure on a decreased demand for 130nm Flash memory chips, which are rapidly being replaced by newer 90nm and 65nm chips.

"We are working very hard to get our Flash business into profitability," a company spokesperson told VNU. "The market is under particular pricing pressure."

The spokesperson added that the move is likely to affect roughly 1,000 of the 4,000 employees at the site, but warned that Intel had yet to determine how deeply the facility would be affected by the closure.

Some employees will be moved to another fab at the same site that is being converted to produce 45nm processors.

Intel plans to have further information on the closure in July, when the company begins its third fiscal quarter.