Apple is hiring 'dozens' of former Texas Instruments (TI) engineers to expand its chip-making workforce in Israel and build up its research and development centres in the country, it has been reported.
The Next Web cites 'sources close to the situation' who claim that Apple has been hiring some of the 250 TI employees that were laid off from the company's Ra'anana development centre earlier this year following the announcement that it would be moving its focus away from mobile processors to embedded platforms. TI's change in business strategy could see the 1,700 employees made redundant, that's about 5 per cent of the company's total global workforce.
"With TI winding down its operations in Israel, Apple appears to be taking full advantage of the situation," TNW says, noting that Apple began looking to hire hardware engineers in chip development for its new Haifa research centre in January, in particular those with strong knowledge of electrical circuits, analogue and hardware testing and verification.
Apple's newly hired engineers are likely to be working for Technologies group boss Bob Mansfield. The group includes the semiconductor team who work on processors for Apple's mobile devices and have "ambitious plans for the future," according to Apple.
In January, Apple confirmed that it acquired Anobit, a 200-employee Israeli firm that produces flash memory controllers, which could also play a part in Apple's chip future in the country.
See also:
Apple's purchase of Anobit would give it a leg up on rivals
Apple in-fighting: Mansfield agreed to two more years at Apple after Forstall fired
A6 chip in iPhone 5 is dual-core Cortex-A15 from UK company
Apple's chip future looks bright with first custom-designed A6
Apple spent $500m designing custom A6 chip that is superior to anything Samsung has
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