Intel and Qualcomm in Israel

As news emerged at the end of last week that Qualcomm has approached Intel about a possible takeover, those in Israel began to examine the implications of such a deal for those employed by Intel in the country. Intel currently employs 11,000 workers in Israel making it the largest private sector employer but that number is expected to drop relatively soon once the company announces its plan for layoffs. Intel has been in Israel since 1974 and is considered the first global technology company to establish a meaningful research and development presence in the country, but if the company were to be taken over, might that result in even deeper cuts?

If that company is Qualcomm, then there is also a great attachment to Israel. The company was founded in 1985 by two Jewish engineering professors from the University of California San Diego – Irwin Jacobs and Andrew Viterbi. Both of them had strong Israeli connections. Viterbi was a regular speaker at the Technion from 1967 onwards and donated $50M to it to rename the electrical engineering faculty in his name. Jacobs was also closely connected with the Haifa based university and donated $20M.

The company’s connections with Israel began early on when Viterbi invited Rafael manager Joseph Shapira to spend a sabbatical with them in California in 1989. Shapira’s experience in radio proved to be critical in helping Qualcomm build their first cellular network using their proprietary CDMA technology at a time when phone companies were convinced that the technology would not work. It was eventually adopted by most phone companies, increasing capacity dramatically and turning Qualcomm into a major industry player.

Shapira was rewarded by being allowed to return to Israel and opening Qualcomm Israel in Haifa in 1992. Although the early years were difficult and some projects did not succeed, the R&D center was employing 100 people by 2000 and today includes 700.

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You can read more about Intel Israel and Qualcomm Israel in my book on the origins of Israeli high tech to be published next year.