Move over, Waterford Crystal. The latest thing to be designed in Ireland will be Intel’s next major chip processor, Quark.
The global technology giant weighed competition from its sites in Israel, Malaysia and the U.S. before deciding to have the chip designed in its Kildare facility. According to Philip Moynagh, general manager for the project, the chips will bear the designation “Designed in Ireland.”
“Those three words are very exciting for us here,” Moynagh told the Irish Independent. “It will be designed in Ireland and made in the U.S., which is kind of an inverse position to what we usually see.”
The deciding factor in winning the project for Ireland was the Kildare facility’s track record of efficiency in moving quickly from research to design to manufacturing. Tax incentives, said Moynagh, were not the deciding factor.
“You can go to zero tax economies,” he said. “But what a business needs is a track record . . . We have demonstrated delivery on other things here. That was crucial.”
Intel’s new Quark processor will join the company’s existing Xeon, Core and Atom lines. It will be designed to power a broad range of products, from wearable technology such as smart watches to air conditioners and cars.
Moynagh said that the company anticipates selling “billions” of Quark processors worldwide. This will be a huge boost for Ireland’s reputation as a serious design center.
“We could not be more proud,” he said. “There aren't many people who get to introduce new product lines. There are even less who introduce the first of a kind. We're just floating right now."
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