Intel has chosen Ireland to design its next major chip processor line, beating off competition from Israel, Malaysia and the US.
It is the first time that a major product from a global technology firm has been designed in this country, as major US tech companies, such as Apple and Dell, usually design products in the US to be manufactured or supported elsewhere.
The new chip, known as Quark, will bear the words ‘designed in Ireland’.
“Those three words are very exciting for us here (in Intel Ireland),” said Philip Moynagh, Intel’s general manager for the Quark chip product line
“It will be designed in Ireland and made in the US which is a kind of an inverse position to what we usually see.”
Mr Moynagh, who is a 20-year veteran of Intel’s manufacturing facilities in Kildare, said that Ireland beat off competition from other Intel locations around the world to design the new line of processors.
“The Israelis, Malaysians, everyone was asked,” he said. “We were the most compelling. We weren’t the cheapest. But we’ve shown we can get people together who can learn and adapt. For a project of this importance, we have to be able to move quickly from research to design to develop to manufacturing. It’s crucial and we had the core team with all strands needed here.”
Mr Moynagh said that tax incentives were not deciding factors.
“You can go to zero tax economies,” he said. “But what the business needs is a track record. We have demonstrated delivery on other things here. That was crucial to help swing things in our favour.”
Approximately 70 people have been involved in designing the chip and its software, said Noel Murphy, Intel’s director of engineering for the Quark product line.
“We took about 15 people out of the fab (manufacturing plant),” he said. “We also hired in Dublin and we took a few out of Shannon. There’s a lot of software involved, too. This is all done in Ireland.” The Independent.ie
