Intel Israel exports down 20%

Intel Corp's Israeli subsidiary has recorded a fall in its exports to $1.409 billion compared to $1.756 billion in 2001.

TEL AVIV: Intel Corp's Israeli subsidiary said its exports in 2002 fell 20 percent to $1.409 billion from $1.756 billion in 2001 as the company was hit by falling prices in the world market. At the same time production at Intel Israel's two plants -- in Jerusalem and the southern town of Kiryat Gat -- rose 10 percent and development activity grew 12 percent, Amir Elstein, co-general manager of Intel Israel, told a news conference.

Intel's exports in 2002 accounted for 14 percent of Israel's total exports in the electronics and information industry, he said. Exports had hit a record $2.021 billion in 2000. To date Intel -- which has been in Israel since 1974 -- has invested $2.8 billion in Israel and makes Pentium 4 and other chips at its Kiryat Gat facility. It also has development centres outside of Tel Aviv and in Haifa, Israel's third-largest city.

Intel's Centrino mobile technology for notebook computers was developed at Haifa. The Centrino package of processor, networking software and chipsets for wireless PC applications will be available in March. At Intel's Petach Tikva centre outside of Tel Aviv the company developed the Manitoba microchip, which combines wireless processing and two types of memory on one piece of silicon.

It is designed to power next generation mobile phones for use on GSM/GPRS wireless networks and will be low energy, so batteries will not have to be recharged frequently. Intel officials said the company will formally announce the product worldwide on Thursday. As Intel moves to 90 nanometer production for flash memory, Intel Israel officials hopes their facility in Kiryat Gat will be chosen as a production site. A nanometer is a billionth of a meter. "There is a tender within Intel to choose the site and we are well-placed," Elstein said. "We have serious hopes."

He said Intel is expected to make a decision in the next few months. Maxine Fassberg, factory manager at Kiryat Gat, said 90-nanometer production could be incorporated within the present facility with an investment of a few hundred million dollars.

Elstein also said Intel Israel had no current planes to move any activities or workers overseas in the event Israel is attacked by Iraqi missiles in retaliation for a U.S. attack on Iraq. He noted that activities were not halted in the 1991 Gulf War, when Iraq fired 39 Scud missiles at Israel, killing one person and causing considerable damage.

© Reuters