3 July 2012 Last updated at 06:00 ET

Chipmaker Renesas cuts 5,000 jobs

Renesas wants to concentrate on chips for cars

Renesas Electronics, the world's fifth biggest chipmaker, has announced a restructuring plan that will lead to at least 5,000 job cuts.

It is getting rid of half its 19 plants and cutting 12% of its workforce.

The plan is part of an agreement to get financial help from creditor banks and its three top shareholders: NEC, Hitachi and Mitsubishi Electric.

Renesas was created by successive mergers of the chip divisions of its three biggest shareholders.

The three shareholders own about 90% of Renesas shares.

The company wants to concentrate on making microcontroller chips for cars.

It reported a net loss of 62.6bn yen ($784m; £500m) for the year to the end of March 2012.

It has been struggling to compete with Korean and Taiwanese chipmakers.