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Apple's new Israel chip R&D center rumored to open by end of February

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Apple is said to have received hundreds of resumes from engineers who are seeking employment at a new research and development center in Israel rumored to open by the end of February.

The new center may be located in Haifa, in the industrial area south of the city Matam, according to Hebrew-language publication Calcalist (via Google Translate). The report said Apple is looking to hire engineers who will develop new chips for the company's devices.

Specifically, Apple is said to be looking for engineers who have expertise in electrical circuits, as well as hardware testing and verification. The proposed location for the research center would be near similar facilities from Intel and Microsoft, among others.

The same publication claimed last month that Apple was planning to open a semiconductor development center in Israel. It has been said that the facility would be headed by Aharon Aharon, who is a veteran in Israel's technology industry.

If the project becomes a reality, it would be Apple's first strategic development center located outside of the company's Cupertino, Calif., headquarters. Any activities outside of the company's campus have to date been related to marketing, sales and support.

The rumored chip development center would be separate from any work done in Israel by Anobit, the flash memory company that was recently acquired by Apple for as much as $500 million. Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook spoke of the Anobit purchase during his company's quarterly earnings conference call on Tuesday, and stated: "Anobit has fantastic technical talent. We're really fortunate to have them join us."

14 Comments

suddenly newton 15 Years · 13819 comments

Interesting. Apple seems intent on becoming even more vertically integrated than they are now: from silicon to final product to retail to post-sale experience (such as iCloud and Siri). I wonder what this will net them in the future...

MacPro 19 Years · 19862 comments

I also read Brazil just agreed to let Foxconn open with tax incentives. So Apple are diversifying their manufacturing more globally. Maybe here one day too!

skittlebrau79 18 Years · 82 comments

Quote:
Originally Posted by digitalclips

I also read Brazil just agreed to let Foxconn open with tax incentives. So Apple are diversifying their manufacturing more globally. Maybe here one day too!

If you read the NYTimes article "Why Apple Doesn't Make iPhones in the USA", you'll know that's never gonna happen.

If they do R&D in Israel, what happens to "Designed by Apple in California"?

joelsalt 17 Years · 820 comments

Quote:
Originally Posted by skittlebrau79

If you read the NYTimes article "Why Apple Doesn't Make iPhones in the USA", you'll know that's never gonna happen.

If they do R&D in Israel, what happens to "Designed by Apple in California"?

Probably nothing, since Johnny designs the cases there still.

shompa 21 Years · 341 comments

Quote:
Originally Posted by Suddenly Newton

Interesting. Apple seems intent on becoming even more vertically integrated than they are now: from silicon to final product to retail to post-sale experience (such as iCloud and Siri). I wonder what this will net them in the future...

The A class SoC have been a runaway success.
Sooner or later we will see A class computers from Apple.

Apple have loads of 4G patents. They have ARM license + own a bit of PowerVR graphics.
Anobit have a great NAND flash controller that enables Apple to buy cheap flash memory and make their own NAND Flash. If Apple released it today it would be the fastest flash device on the market (670 megabyte read/write).

Apple spent over 500 million on Sharp LCD plant.

A few more companies/parts and Apple could design their own total SoC with CPU, Graphics, Flash controller, 4G baseband, Thunderbolt I/O and Sharp Screens. This would give Apple an unique advantage over all other vendors.

The A class SoC have already given Apple a huge advantage since they can design it for iOS + it can be 30% larger then competing ARM SoCs and be bought at the same price.

Great times ahead.

If Apple just buys a foundry so they can manufacture everything themselves.