Roger Fingas
An Apple research and development facility promised by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has been formally announced by the mayor of Yokohama, and is due to be completed sometime in 2016.
The news was reported Wednesday by Japan's national public broadcaster, NHK. Apple has paid to take over part of a former Panasonic factory in Tsunashima-higashi, specifically a space measuring over 269,000 square feet spread across four stories.
As with a number of other Apple facilities, the company is working to "green" the complex by minimizing energy consumption. It will also make use of recycled water, and trees should be planted on the roof.
Construction is slated to begin by the end of 2015.
Abe first hinted at an Apple R&D center in December, but didn't offer any more details beyond claiming it would be on par with similar Apple offices in the rest of Asia.
The company has been rapidly expanding its global R&D presence in the past few years, for instance establishing offices in China and Israel, and laying plans for a location in Cambridge, England. Apple's most important research is still typically conducted at its Cupertino headquarters.
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17 Comments
Makes sense for a company the size of Apple to diversify R&D. They should be able to work on multiple R&D projects at the same time.
Makes sense for a company the size of Apple to diversify R&D. They should be able to work on multiple R&D projects at the same time.
And if they keep doing display research, it will help for them to have more engineers closer to the manufacturers as they work on improvements to the related technologies.
Hope they don't get a tsunami in Tsunashimahigashi.
Toured central Japan last year. Yokohama was the worst place we visited. The Jersey City of Japan. Dirty, graffiti-ridden, industrial port city. Not where I'd want to live if posted to Japan. So many beautiful and inspiring places to live there. Why this place?
[CODE][/CODE][quote name="Robin Huber" url="/t/185405/apples-japanese-r-d-facility-confirmed-for-yokohama-with-2016-completion-date#post_2697682"]Toured central Japan last year. Yokohama was the worst place we visited. The Jersey City of Japan. Dirty, graffiti-ridden, industrial port city. Not where I'd want to live if posted to Japan. So many beautiful and inspiring places to live there. Why this place?[/quote] Depends upon ones long term plans. The facility needs to fit the resources available. Besides Japan is just like every other country in the world, they have cities that need uplifting via new development.