NEC Corp. will stop producing dynamic random access memory chips at its U.S. plant in June and instead specialize in system large-scale integration production.
NEC said Friday it is halting DRAM production at its California plant in order to shift production to Japan and China. The plant will be used to produce system LSIs for mobile phones and personal digital assistants.
The closure of the DRAM production line is likely to result in the layoff of about 700 of the 1,600 plant employees, it said.
The decision comes amid a global decline in demand for personal computers, which led NEC to review its semiconductor production system in the United States, where it mainly produces older DRAM chips, such as 64 megabit and 16 megabit.