Busy lately but this is one sad news for my ex-colleagues

Natsemi is where i used to serve for 7 years before i venture to the land of bits and bytes.

Its a sad day indeed for my ex-fellow colleagues who had stayed on. But they were advised by that the day will come when i prophesized in year cica 1999.

Full monty as below.

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SAN FRANCISCO — Continuing to cut costs, National Semiconductor Corp. late Wednesday (July 13) said that it will not sell its assembly and test plant in Toa Payoh, Singapore, as previously planned. Instead, National will shut down the plant — a move that will impact 950 employees.

Following National's announcement to seek a buyer for its Singapore plant on March 10, the company has now decided to accelerate its cost savings by closing the plant and consolidating its production volume into National's two other assembly and test facilities in Melaka, Malaysia, and Suzhou, China.

The closure is consistent with National's ongoing program to maximize resources and support for the company's analog businesses.

A majority of the equipment that is currently in Singapore will be transferred to the other assembly and test plants and utilized to support ongoing products and customers. However, the closure will impact approximately 950 employees, including professional staff, technicians and operators.

National estimates that it will incur charges in the range of $27 million to $30 million during the first quarter of fiscal 2006, primarily for severances. The company expects to eventually achieve quarterly cost savings of $4 million to $6 million from this action.