Apple is Entering Israel Because It's Afraid of Losing Its Innovative Edge?

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Posted December 21, 2011 at 5:48pm by iClarified

Eric Sirkin, a former senior director at Apple, says the company is entering Israel because it's afraid of losing its innovative edge following the death of Steve Jobs, notes BGR.

According to media reports, Apple has just purchased Anobit, an Israeli flash storage company, for up to $500 million. In addition, it reportedly plans to open a development center in the country.

Heralded by many as the "second Silicon Valley" the country is known for its startups, innovation, and cutting edge technology.

"I think Apple is now entering Israel because of the loss of Jobs," Eric Sirkin, a former senior director at Apple, told Israeli economic newspaper TheMarker in an interview. "Apple is afraid – it must be at the front of innovation. I believe that the company is now trying to inject innovation and Israel is part of the solution."

Sirkin was employed by Apple for more than seven years and managed the team that created FireWire. He notes that the mentality in Israel is a key factor. "The Israeli mentality fits with Apple thinking outside the box," Sirkin said.

As usual Apple has not commented on the reported acquisition or its plans in the country.

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Apple is Entering Israel Because It's Afraid of Losing Its Innovative Edge?

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Steve K - February 6, 2012 at 7:24pm

That's hilarious someone said Israel is an unstable place for investments the same year that the long-term sovereign credit rating for the UnitedStates of America was lowered to 'AA+' from 'AAA along with many other European nations and Israels credit rating raised because of its extremely successful and strong investment possibilities. Not to mention Israel has the worlds fastest growing economy. Israel has more companies on the tech-oriented NASDAQ stock exchange than any country outside the US more than all of Europe, India, and China combined.

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Kenny - February 6, 2012 at 6:31pm

I think Apple is feeling the heat. They already know they missed out large when they frustrated Inon Beracha. Inon is the CEO of Israeli company PrimeSense. PrimeSense is the company behind Microsoft's 3D machine vision.

Ben - February 6, 2012 at 6:41pm

Soo true, PrimeSense originally was going to sell the technology to Apple, but with all their hush hush about it they annoyed Inon Beracha and he went to Microsoft. Microsoft loves buying Israeli tech so it was basically a yes on the spot. Much of Microsofts tech is developed by the Israelis, along with IBM, Intel, HP, Samsung, General Electric, Cisco, Motorola, Philips, Siemens, Oracle, Google, Barclays, 3M, Xerox, at&t, Dell, AMD, PayPay, EMC, McAfee, Johnson&Johnson, Texas Instruments, SanDisk, Autodesk, AOL, LIVEPERSON, eBay, Sears, Yahoo, John Deere, GM, Kodak, LG and now Apple. Literally hundreds more. Thats just off the top of my had. You can verify that by going to any of the listed companies homepages.

Jack - December 22, 2011 at 12:38pm

It is nice that Apple invests in Israel. It is not nice that Apple has forgotten to apply, in their iWork suit a support to R2L writing direction (Support for Hebrew Arabic and many other languages) Apple does it out of ignorance or indifference. Who knows.

AFRIKAN GIRL - December 26, 2011 at 2:50pm

Leeroy you have it man, God be with you my Brother, we need more voices like u to stand up for all this racist insults whether its against us (black people) or the jews

Chris - December 22, 2011 at 12:11am

Haha, you gotta read the long argument below... hilarious...

huh? - December 21, 2011 at 11:19pm

A mentor of mine once said...if you speak about a topic without knowledge...you're a prick. I can safely say that I feel very comfortable in the company I have the fortune of conversing with tonight.

LEEROY - December 26, 2011 at 5:30pm

@csdb thank you very much have a good prosperous healty new year and also have a happy happy Chanukah Shalom my yidisha brother

Raed - December 21, 2011 at 8:49pm

It is Palestine

Csdb - December 21, 2011 at 7:00pm

Israel is certainly the best place (outside Silicon Valley) to set up and R&D center. Haifa Technion is the one of the top scientific University in the world. It trains and graduates each year a large number of the Best minds. It gives the High Tech industry an ample supply of engineers and scientists. It has got nothing to do with Steve Jobs being Jewish. In fact, Apple computers are really outnumbered by Windows PCs in Israel. Even iPhones had a hard time to get accepted here at first. And even though the situation is much improved now, Apple is still seen as an outsider. One company has the exclusive rights to import Apple products here and the local consumer experience is abysmal!!! Things can only improve with Apple direct investment in the country....

Jeff - December 21, 2011 at 7:27pm

So you say best minds there huh?? If so, why are apple computers outnumbered by PC's?? Everyone knows windows PC's are VERY slow, since you say Israel is the best place for technology(which I doubt) wouldn't you want a FAST computer for all your work, best graphics, SPEED SPEED and MORE SPEED! Best minds would want to use the new technology and what you said just contradicts itself over and over... "best minds, high tech industry"

Csdb - December 21, 2011 at 8:00pm

High tech doesn't necessarily means Personal computers It is a much larger field including chip design, software, medical research, genetics .... You have to look at things with an open mind

Tom - December 21, 2011 at 8:34pm

Umm yea I know what high tech means... I don't think you understood what I meant by that and yet you say you have an open mind. Apple has the best of the best top of the line quality. Everyone thought apple was crazy for going in the mobile market and yet now they are number one. I was the first to buy iPhone first generation and I knew it would be the best!

csdb - December 21, 2011 at 9:26pm

Jeff, Don't be hurt ! I am glad you were the first to buy an iPhone first generation, but it doesn't mean you are right ! Just open your eyes and look around you ! There are other people buying iPhones or Macs that disagree with you. There are other fields, other companies. Fortunately, Apple is smart enough to invest in places it makes the most sense to stay ahead of the pack ! Get a life ! Stay hungry ! Life is beautiful !

Rafaelr - December 21, 2011 at 10:12pm

What about them? If you look at the apple "jobs" website you can clearly see apple has programming centers in all the places you've mentioned... if it truly is right-wing propaganda then why did Apple pay $50 million? Propaganda is never hard to disprove, how would you explain the purchase then? taking into account that corporations don't just go "ops" and buy a company in a new country without thinking about it first...

huh? - December 21, 2011 at 10:17pm

And $50million for Apple is the equivalent of you going to buy a pack of gum...

Rafaelr - December 21, 2011 at 10:23pm

Apple is a corporation they have a lot of money but that doesn't mean that they are going to make risky decisions simply because they can afford too... Apple as one entity is like me buying a pack of gum but apple is not an entity it is a corporation composed of thousands of stockholders. That's a whole lot of gum... I'm sorry but no, corporations like Apple don't get into a new country on a whim. If you disagree that's ok, I honestly don't care that much... hahahah good thing you told me that comment wasn't for me I was heavily insulted.

huh? - December 21, 2011 at 10:29pm

Comments, naturally, are aimed at the level of conversation... Shareholders...no not an argument...try worrying about share risk when the following is in front of you... % of Shares Held by All Insider and 5% Owners: 1% % of Shares Held by Institutional & Mutual Fund Owners: 71% % of Float Held by Institutional & Mutual Fund Owners: 71% Number of Institutions Holding Shares: 1649 $50 million is the equivalent of less than a pack of gum for the average shareholder...

huh? - December 21, 2011 at 10:35pm

In English... That means Apple's 1 billion shares are roughly $400 each...so $50million divided by $400 billion is 0.0005% of Apple's wealth... If you earn $50,000 a year...0.0005% = $25 per year...so divide that by 12 = $2 per month and that by 30...about 7 cents per day...

huh? - December 21, 2011 at 10:36pm

I think gum costs about 10 times that amount...right?

Rafaelr - December 21, 2011 at 10:39pm

It should be noted that the article reads $500 million, not $50 million. That was a typo that I probably started. Not only is it ten times the cost you previously had in mind, there's still plenty of work, and money, to be thrown in before they get they finish up the development center. It should also be noted that: "Numerous other Silicon Valley giants already have research and development centers in the country including Google, IBM, Intel, Microsoft, Qualcomm, Broadcom, Yahoo!, eBay and Huawei. " That's a lot of high level corporations making risky decisions! Link from quote https://www.iclarified.com/entry/index.php?enid=18737

huh? - December 21, 2011 at 10:46pm

So my original comment was right - a pack of gum. Look, however much you throw in, you intend to get more back...fact of the matter is, there are stable and statistically better scientifically oriented countries out there...just saying 'they know what they're doing' is never good enough. It's the equivalent of Lehman Brothers...150 year old bank...they 'knew what they were doing'...the government of Greece, Italy, Spain..France..dare I say it the UK and USA...10 years ago only the people that demanded hard facts could have predicted what happens today...point - saying 'they must've thought about it' is pretty lame.

huh? - December 21, 2011 at 10:49pm

Don't tell anyone, but I've heard North Korea have pretty solid nuclear technology...let's go and set up camp there...

Rafaelr - December 21, 2011 at 10:52pm

Lehman Brothers new exactly what they were doing... They were purposely making risky decisions because they knew that if they were to fail the government would have to help them to prevent a recession. The executives at Lehman Brothers new EXACTLY what they were doing. They knew they were being risky but they also new that they're power over the economy means that they have a safety net in the form of government intervention. Greece, Italy, France, Spain, and the US do not know what they are doing. It is much harder to rule a nation than to figure out the risk assessment of setting up programming base in another country... The two things can't be compared...

huh? - December 21, 2011 at 10:55pm

I compared the idea of 'they must have done some research' that you threw. Read my last two posts...get a decent argument.

rafaelr - December 21, 2011 at 10:57pm

hahahahah I know opportunity cost is a first/second class of Microeconomics concept, but it still stands... I'm a 21 year old MIT undergraduate studying Computer Science and thinking about doing a minor in Economics. Though clearly you know more about the subject than I do. And honestly I have better things to do than argue with people online so I'll give, you are right.

huh? - December 21, 2011 at 10:59pm

Good...since we're waving around, I'm a surgeon, on call at the moment...know nothing about economics, but apparently a lot more than an 'MIT student', even though I'm writing in patient notes right now and destroying arguments as a secondary chore...

rafaelr - December 21, 2011 at 11:05pm

Ok I see... You get to say I'm a 6th grader but when I say I'm from a college student from a good school I'm waging my dick around... I see this has gone down hill. You have not destroyed any arguments, you have not even carried thee burden of setting up your own argument on instability. On-call? Where, in the US?

huh? - December 21, 2011 at 11:09pm

UK unfortunately, otherwise we could of had a cup of tea together...Trying to figure out if I was lying...HAHAHA, nice try little boy, I have nothing to hide form you.

huh? - December 21, 2011 at 11:10pm

or should I say...'MIT' student...

rafaelr - December 21, 2011 at 11:18pm

Well yes that was the general idea... If you are from the US you wouldn't be on call because it's still daytime. Of course you can just lie and tell me you're from the UK... Nice try, little kid... I can post the authentication certificate for getting into the class website if it means anything to you? It has my name and everything, rafaelr being short for rafael ramirez... woudl you like that?

csdb - December 21, 2011 at 11:19pm

And I thought this discussion was going somewhere ! Too bad ! Re-reading the thread it is clear Rafaelr points are of much better quality. Oh well old UK/US rivalry going back to the Independence war ?

Rafaelr - December 21, 2011 at 11:20pm

yes it appears it has turned into a giant pissing contest....=

huh? - December 21, 2011 at 11:20pm

I bet that's you rafaelr...writing about yourself?

rafaelr - December 21, 2011 at 11:23pm

Well as you can see there is part of the security certificate. Good enough? Obviously not going to open it completely don't want people getting in... http://i44.tinypic.com/331dddx.png

huh? - December 21, 2011 at 11:25pm

Well look, I don't think you're doing MIT a favour by staying here...

huh? - December 21, 2011 at 11:28pm

You're not a janitor or something? If not, you really can't judge a man by his university...thought that was foolproof. One thing I was wrong about I guess...

huh? - December 21, 2011 at 11:30pm

the latter csdb comment and and those of rafaelr really do have common inflections though...

csdb - December 21, 2011 at 11:31pm

That was good Rafaelr ... Nice shot ... right between the ... legs

huh? - December 21, 2011 at 11:34pm

And no problem...I am glad that you felt you had to show me your credentials to prove who you were...Unfortunately for you...I have no such insecurities about my background...So I guess for you rafaelr....I am the MIT janitor...

huh? - December 21, 2011 at 11:36pm

csdb will be unhappy when he finds our you've been ratting on his name rafaelr...

huh? - December 21, 2011 at 11:48pm

sure you do...go cozy up with yourself raphaelr/csdb...I hope you're not American by birth...you'd just be reinforcing lots of stigma. Sigh...

AHMJ - December 22, 2011 at 1:12am

If you read the article again, Eric Sirkin said apple thought of investing in israel after the loss of Steve Jobs to maintain innovation. I don't see much deep thinking in that. It is more of a quick reaction to an event. Sirkin is implying it is a panic decision. There you find the propaganda about Israel technology. In fact what could had happened truly is that some right winglets questioned apple why they did not have an investment in Israel yet, in an antisemitic context as usual, and Apple responded by taking this investment. They never did when Steve was alive because probably if someone suggested it he responded: "Are crazy man?"

Jim - December 22, 2011 at 1:35am

Yep, if Israel was such an obvious choice - why didn't Steve Jobs do it years ago? Or did Sirkin et. al. have a sudden epiphany. Shit.

rafaelr - December 22, 2011 at 8:34am

@AHMJ If you read the article again you would see Eric Sirkin is an ex-apple employee who is giving his opinion of the matter. "apple thought of investing in israel after the loss of Steve Jobs...". True, this is just a matter of looking at the timeline of events. "...to maintain innovation". False, or at most Uncertain. This guy's opinion as to why Apple got bought this israeli company is as good as any normal person's opinion. You are taking what someone believes to be true, without having any evidence or actually being there to see how the decision process was made, and act as if what he says is fact. I don't see much deep thinking in Sirkin, I see pure conjecture! For all we and Sirkin know Steve Jobs may have been looking into purchasing this company before his death but the risk assessment was being prepared when he died... Even if he was correct and purchase was made because of fear of no new innovation, I wouldn't call it a "panic decision". It's not like the executives were saying "were not going to make it 2 days without new innovation what are we going to do? Lets set up shop in Israel! Screw the risk assessment just pick a company and buy it! Can't you see that without new innovation everything is going to fall apart in two days! This is not a time for thinking this is a time for action!" Hahahah got really into it back there, but you get the point. If you still think otherwise that's fine, this isn't a clear cut decision and opposing views naturally arise.

Csdb - December 22, 2011 at 12:58pm

Rafaelr You sound way too clever and too articulate to waste any more time on this thread. It is not worthed it. Don't worry about comments about my command of English, on peut discuter en Français y podemos hablar en Espanol tam bien si quieres. I am out of here !

rafaelr - December 23, 2011 at 12:02pm

Tu tambien suenas muy inteligente csdb. Muestras dominio espectacular en tres lenguas! Yo domino bien solo el lenguaje Espanol y el Ingles. Cogi clases de Frances en high school pero no lo suficiente para dominar el lenguaje y se me esta olvidando. Estoy cogiendo Mandarin en la universidad pero tampoco se lo suficiente para dominar el lenguaje, aunque espero hacerlo antes de graduarme. Eres programador de computadora? Si no pues cual es tu oficio? Definitivamente debemos hablar mi email es rafaelr@mit.edu. Espero escuchar de usted pronto. Happy Holidays!

Steve K - February 6, 2012 at 6:55pm

That's hilarious you say Israel is an unstable place for investments the same year that the long-term sovereign credit rating for the UnitedStates of America was lowered to 'AA+' from 'AAA along with many other European nations and Israels credit rating raised because of its extremely successful and strong investment possibilities. Not to mention Israel has the worlds fastest growing economy. Israel has more companies on the tech-oriented NASDAQ stock exchange than any country outside the US more than all of Europe, India, and China combined.

Lynn - December 21, 2011 at 6:49pm

Go Israel