Apple's Expanded Presence in Israel Focused on Chip Design

[davidf18]

Israel Hi-Tech

I've been to Israel many times for the hi-tech. The inventor of flash memory, Dov Frohman, is an Intel Technion (MIT of Israel) graduate who invented it when working for the new Intel. He later moved back to Israel and created a design center for Intel around 1974. Intel in Israel now employs about 10,000 give or take and has two design centers and an up-to-date fab (and other fabs).

In addition to Apple which employs 700 at this time, other firms with R&D in Israel include: IBM, Microsoft, Google, Cisco, News Corp., Intel, Broadcom, Qualcomm, and many more.

See: https://mappedinisrael.com/
for an overview of the startup scene.

Israel *does* emphasize engineering and science. In addition, there are pressures for defense spending because of being surrounded hostile people.

Israel developed the first drone that shoots missiles (the Pioneer) which the US initially copied and used in Desert Storm. Today Israel is the leading exporter of drone technology.
It more recently developed an anti-missile system called Iron Dome (there are some cool youtube videos of this).
Israeli satellites are used to help fight ISIS in Iraq/Syria.

Because of water shortages in Israel, the Israelis are a leader in the use of desalinization technologies.
http://www.water-technology.net/projects/sorek-desalination-plant/

There is also the book, Startup Nation, which is a bit "over the top" but is informative all the same.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0446541478/

Finally, Cornell has teamed up with Technion to implement the Cornell NYC Tech campus:
http://tech.cornell.edu/nyc-campus/

And there is a $130 million joint agreement for Technion with a Chinese billionaire to have a joint school in China.
http://www.timesofisrael.com/chinese-billionaire-to-fund-joint-china-technion-program/

 

[whooleytoo]

Israel has had a lot of chip design talent for a long time. Some may recall that the Intel team that designed the Pentium M, which became the basis for the Core series, was based in Israel. So, I don't know that it's something that recent governments have done or not, but the engineering talent in that country is not new.

http://www.seattletimes.com/business/how-israel-saved-intel/

Thanks, I'd forgotten about that. It seems to be that software skills seem to be quite well 'distributed' around the world, but hardware skills much more focused in just a few countries.

I'm sure the relative startup costs have quite a bit to do with that - it's all very well having educated graduates, but I'd guess starting up a hardware research company is considerably more expensive than a software startup.

Coming from another small, tech-oriented country: credit to Israel for this!

 

[thekeyring]

Did I jump down your throat? I don't feel like I did, but if you felt that, then I apologize.

However, I do advise you that if you decide to state something in a very convinced fashion with very little sense of disbelief, then you better back it up.

Core and clock speed mean very little. They mean as little or as much as megapixels do when you talk about cameras.

I personally advise you to read Anandtechs reviews of each iPhone if you truly want to get an in-depth look on how their SoC's work. Not only does Anandtech review tech very thoroughly, but they are widely considered to be the best in tech journalism with a respectable amount of integrity. I'd argue that they're actually alone at the top.

I'm afraid it is a lie to imply that iPhones are delivered with inferior chips.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/8554/the-iphone-6-review

Thanks for that. I wasn't trying to have a go at Apple. I was under the impression that the chip was slower (and therefore more power efficient) but with a lighter os, so it didn't matter.

Like having a car with a smaller engine, but a lighter frame. However, your post and that link have made things clearer, thanks

 

[iMacian]

All this luxury stuff leaves me wondering... what speaks against Apple making a solid gold iphone? If people buy this stuff, why not offer it yourself instead of leaving this to the aftermarket.

 

[odedia]

I wonder what Israel is "doing right" that other countries aren't. More small startups? Better education? Government incentives?

I think it's really a unique blend that allows for this. Most Israelis serve in the Israeli Defence Forces for 3 years in ages 18-21. The smartest of them are assigned to very lucrative positions in intelligence and software development units (Mamram being one of the most notable). The need for excellent technical advantage is not a nice-to-have, it is mandatory in the region Israel exists in and the many enemies it (sadly) still has.

What you end up with is a lot of talented people at the age of 21 with a lot of technical expertise, who are usually more mature than the average 21 year-old who is in the middle of his college degree. These people tend to build startups and trying to invent the next big thing.

That, plus government incentives and a little "Hutzpa" results in a place that has often been called "The start-up nation".

 

[Mums]

[Mod Note]

I have removed several posts that were political in nature. Please keep the discussion on topic and not about politics.

So basically you are mandating that we can only post positive comments about this article or risk being sensored / banned, as I have been many times simply for expressing alternative viewpoints.

Wait: Isn't the PRSI (or whatever) disclaimer for "political" articles? So now we can't discuss politics because it involves Israel? What hypocrisy! What if we are pro-Israel? Then we get to write what we want?

 

[balamw]

Wait: Isn't the PRSI (or whatever) disclaimer for "political" articles? So now we can't discuss politics because it involves Israel? What hypocrisy! What if we are pro-Israel? Then we get to write what we want?

MOD NOTE: My later note was perhaps a bit clearer.

MOD NOTE: If you wish to discuss more general issues of the geopolitical situation in the area, please take it to PRSI. This thread is about a particular business deal Apple has undertaken.

Discuss the deal here, discuss other/larger issues in PRSI.

Per the forum rules, all political speech outside PRSI is automatically Off Topic and subject to removal. This news thread is not in PRSI, while others whose topics are more directly political can be placed there.

If you wish to discuss that in general, take it to S&FF.

B