Toshiba to Close Calif. Semiconductor Plant

Toshiba Corp., the Japanese electronics company, said it will close a California semiconductor plant and cut 250 workers so it can move operations to more efficient plants in Japan. The plant in Sunnyvale, south of San Francisco, assembles prototypes of specialty chips that are used in a wide variety of electronic devices. It will start to shut down later this month and will be completely closed by June, Toshiba said. Some workers will be transferred to other Toshiba operations, if possible, the company said. The plant is part of Toshiba America Electronic Components Inc., a unit of Tokyo-based Toshiba Corp.