Intel Corp. announced on Wednesday that it would halt production at five plants in an effort to "align its manufacturing capacity to current market conditions." Those five plants represent older capacity and will not impact the deployment of new 45-nanometer and 32-nanometer manufacturing capacity, the Santa Clara, Calif.-based manufacturer said.  

Intel will stop production at Fab 20, a 200mm wafer fabrication facility in Hillsboro, Ore., and cease wafer production operations at the D2 facility in Santa Clara, Calif. The remaining three closures are outside of the U.S., -- two assembly test facilities in Penang, Malaysia, and one in Cavite, Philippines.

Some 5,000 to 6,000 people will be impacted by these actions, which will occur between now and the end of 2009. Some employees may be offered positions at other facilities.

This announcement comes on the heels of Intel’s fourth-quarter earnings report, which was released Jan. 15. Fourth-quarter revenue was down 23% from the same period one year ago, and income in that same time period tumbled 90%.