The Information Technology Landscape in Israel
Hardware Manufacturing
The hardware
industry in Israel is expanding rapidly. Many Israeli companies are active in
developing and manufacturing telecommunications and networking equipment.
However, there is little production of computer systems, which are mostly
imported from countries with cheaper labor.
Growth of the Industry:
"Israel's Ministry of Industry and Trade began inviting American businesses to establish R&D centers and manufacturing facilities in Israel in the early '80s". (38) The government assumed that in luring a core group of major microelectronics companies to Israel, the country's high-tech industry would develop a technology backbone and achieve global recognition and credibility. The policy made foreign high-tech companies eligible for government grants covering 38 percent of the cost of new R&D facilities. Intel, IBM, KLA, Motorola, and National Semiconductor bucked prevailing perceptions--that Israel was embroiled in a warlike situation and thus not suitable for investment--and set up chip design centers in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, and Haifa." Today, Israel has more offshore R&D centers of U.S. high-tech companies than any other country. (38)
Type of Hardware Manufacturing:
Networking &
Communication Devices
Israel is home to various companies that primarily design, develop and manufacture networking products that provide connectivity solutions for multi-use computing environments, local area networks and wide area networks. Communication hardware includes PC cards, routers, hubs, remote access servers, switches and adapters. (48)
A few of these corporations include:
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Semiconductors
"Israel's
semiconductor industry is at the forefront of the country's dramatic high-tech
growth and is expanding into new and exciting horizons." (36)
Contributing to this remarkable growth, is the transition from defense oriented
industries to commercial applications and to Israel's highly educated workforce.
While the global semiconductor business is a $40 billion industry, Israel is
involved in a range of the technologies and applications, including established
world renown companies and start-ups. (36)
Israel has had many achievements in the semiconductor sector. They include: (36)
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The integration of all components of a PC onto a single chip. |
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The development of the i1860 XP microprocessor with RISC technology of which 2.5 million transistors. per chip have been developed. |
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The numerical processors found in all personal computers. |
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The launching of the Pentium processor with MMX technology. |
Many equipment manufacturers are home to Israel. They include: (36)
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Chip Express, which has developed a laser-based fast prototyping system for ASIC gate arrays. |
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Applied Materials (Israel) has developed and produced control systems for semiconductor equipment and software for real-time monitoring of cluster tools. |
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Kulicke & Soffa (Israel) designs, manufactures and markets semiautomatic and automatic equipment for the assembly of semiconductor components. |
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Nova Measuring Instruments Ltd. produces Integrated On-Line Thickness Monitoring (tm) systems for semiconductor manufacturing. |
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Sizary Ltd., established by new immigrants from the former Soviet Union has developed thermal processing systems to reduce metallic contamination in silicon wafers. |
Fiber optics
At present, one of the hottest sectors for foreign investors in Israel is optics. Israeli companies are working on a range of products, especially new kinds of switches for the fiber-optic lines that are increasingly significant parts of telecommunications networks. "Morgan Stanley estimates that every year four to six Israeli optics companies will be acquired by global players--such as Alcatel, Corning and JDS Uniphase--that are seeking to integrate innovations of this kind into their broad strategic plans". (
17)
Troubles in 2001:
Israel's Manufacturers Association stated that "2001 would turn out to be one of the worst ever years for manufacturing due to a one-year Palestinian uprising and the global economic slowdown." (
39) Industrial production in 2001 would fall by four percent, affecting all sectors, compared with a 10.1 percent rise in 2000. Industrial exports would fall five percent to $19.6 billion compared with a 31 percent the previous year. The decline would mostly effect the exports of electronic components, rubber and plastics, textiles and communications equipment. Additionally, industrial investments would fall by 15 percent in 2001 compared with a rise of 9.9 percent the previous year. (39)"The CBS said trend data for manufacturing output showed that high-tech industries have been hardest hit, posting a 26 percent decline in annual terms in January-August of 2001. Industrial exports posted a similar decline, the CBS noted."
(40)
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