Apple to expanded Israeli operations with Ra'anana facility

Apple will reportedly be bolstering its presence in Israel with a new development center in the Ra'anana Industrial zone, with the facility said to be staffed by former employees of Texas Instruments.

The Ra'anana facility will be Apple's third in Israel, opening alongside a Haifa development center launched last year and the pre-existing Herzliya facilities of flash memory developer Anobit that Apple acquired roughly a year ago, reports Israeli business news site Globes.

Between 100 and 150 former employees of Texas Instruments will staff the development center. Apple brought on those employees late in 2012, according to the report, after Texas Instruments dismissed them as part of a wider culling of 1,700 workers worldwide.

While the former TI employees are said to have worked largely on short-range communication technologies such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and NFC, the report suggests that Apple will take the new development center in a different stategic direction.