Qualcomm Inc. has launched a significant round of layoffs in a bid to fulfill a January pledge to reduce its annual expenses by $1 billion.

The company confirmed the move late Wednesday, without sharing any specific figures, after Bloomberg reported that the workforce reduction will affect about 1,500 employees in California. According to the sources who spoke with the publication, the cuts are part of a “broader” effort that could see Qualcomm eliminate even more positions outside the state.

The exact scope of the layoffs should become more clear in coming days as the chipmaker files the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification notices it’s obligated to issue under California law. WARN notices, as they’re more commonly known, have to be sent out whenever a company lays off 50 or more employees within a 30-day period.

“We first evaluated non-headcount expense reductions, but we concluded that a workforce reduction is needed to support long-term growth and success, which will ultimately benefit all our stakeholders,” Qualcomm said in a statement.

The company made its commitment to cut $1 billion in expenses as it was trying to fend off a hostile takeover attempt by Broadcom Ltd. Qualcomm hoped that the pledge would help win over shareholders, who at the time were on track to support the buyout bid. The deal was eventually quashed by a U.S. presidential executive order on national security grounds.

New challenges have since emerged for Qualcomm, however. The company today pushed back the deadline for completing its long-stalled acquisition of fellow chipmaker NXP Semiconductor NV because of delays in securing approval from Chinese regulators. Securing the green light for the $44 billion deal may prove complicated given the ongoing trade spat between Beijing and Washington.

That’s particularly likely given the U.S. Commerce Department’s recent decision to ban American firms from selling key technology to Chinese telecommunications giant ZTE Corp. for seven years. The move will directly impact Qualcomm, which has been a major chip supplier to the company.

Qualcomm’s shares are down more than 4 percent this morning in the wake of the layoffs and the NXP acquisition delay. 

Image: Qualcomm