BUSINESS BRIEFING / TECHNOLOGY

National Semiconductor Corp. plans to cut more than 1,700 jobs, about a fourth of its workforce, as the recession eats into sales at the maker of mobile-phone chips.

The Santa Clara, Calif., company will eliminate 850 positions now and 875 over the next few quarters. The reductions will occur in areas including manufacturing, sales and marketing. The company also will shut plants in China and Texas.

Sales this quarter will drop as much as 10% from the previous period as customers curb spending, the company said.