Analog to focus on Irish plant

ANALOG DEVICES’ Limerick plant received a boost yesterday when the American computer-chip manufacturer announced it would shut a facility in California and shift production to Ireland.

The company, which has been in Limerick for nearly 30 years and currently employs 1,300 people there, said it would save $45 million (€37.5m) per year by consolidating its wafer fab operations in two centres Limerick and the American state of Massachusetts.

California lost out because these plants were already equipped with the "most advanced process technologies" in the group, Analog said. The decision was expected to boost capacity and lower overall manufacturing costs.