Leading Israeli technologist to join Apple

Following up on reports that senior research and development executive Dr. Edward Frank is currently touring Israel with a view to establishing a development center in the country, Israeli business newspaper Globes now says that Apple has hired veteran tech player Aharon Aharon as the center's leader, mentioning that the proposed development will focus on semiconductors. It would be the first such facility outside Cupertino.

The newspaper claims that the plan to set up a center in Israel for further semiconductor R&D precedes Apples recent interest in acquiring one of its current suppliers, the NAND flash memory maker Anobit. Over the years, Israel has come to be considered a high-tech nexus point, with many technology companies native to the country, some of which have made huge technological contributions. Other US tech firms such as Yahoo, Microsoft, IBM, Google and Intel have invested heavily in acquiring or working with Israeli tech firms.

Aharon himself current serves as chairman of Camero Tech, a company that develops RF-based imaging systems. He has previous worked with security firm Discretix, Zoran Corporation and began his career at IBM's Haifa facility. Dr. Frank has been an executive at Broadcom. Anobit and other firms in the country such as DensBit have been working on methods for improving the longevity and capacity of flash storage. Aharon will reportedly spend some time in Cupertino training for the new position before returning to Israel and hiring staff for the proposed facility, while Frank meets with various technology companies in Israel.

The acquisitions over the past few years and the reported moves to own R&D and production facilities outside Apple's home base show a strategy of increasingly securing its own means of production, known to be a key desire of CEO Tim Cook. One of Cook's first acts when he became a senior executive with the company was reducing the number of third-party companies Apple needed to work with, though some would argue that some of Cook's supplier choices have turned out to have improperly benefitted from advance knowledge of Apple's plans, knowing the company lacked alternative suppliers.

As part of that strategy, Apple may seek to make further selective acquisitions or partnerships in Israel, either to procure suppliers or to acquire talent in the same manner as it did with its takeovers of PA Semi and Intrinsity in the recent past in order to built its own chips. The company traditionally spends far less than other tech firms on R&D but routinely produces world-beating results, in part due to strategic buyouts along with its knack for fusing in-house and out-sourced ideas together. While setting up technology centers outside Cupertino is a new tack for Apple, it fits in with a strategy of streamlining and controlling production costs and advancements that could continue to give the company a strong edge. [via Globes]

by MacNN Staff