More than half the employees at Cyrix reportedly will be laid off before its new owner, Via Technologies, acquires the company.

Officials at Cyrix, the microprocessor division of National Semiconductor, say Via has directed that 170 employees be laid off before the division comes under Via's control.

The Taiwanese chipset maker bought Cyrix on June 30 for $167 million as part of a bid to challenge Intel in the market for low-cost PC processors. Intel is currently locked in an intellectual property lawsuit in which it accuses Via of breaching a licensing agreement.

The layoffs will occur across various segments at Cyrix, including the Texas operations, a company spokesman said. The full story is available at www.news.com.