Infineon closes Israeli UWB R&D site

Infineon Technologies AG has closed its R&D operation in Netanya, Israel, Infineon Technologies Savan Ltd. According to a report by the Israeli newspaper Globes, the 39 employees in the operation were laid off.

Infineon senior director of corporate media relations Gunter Gaugler confirmed the closure. "Infineon decided to focus on product sales and marketing, the profits from which we'll see very soon. UWB is a future product that does not yet have a standard or market in the foreseeable future, so it was decided to halt development activity in the area at this time. The UWB market is still far off, and Infineon decided to concentrate on areas that can generate profits in the nearer future," Gaugler said. Infineon Savan was based on the startup Savan Communications Ltd, acquired by Infineon in 2000 for about $120 million.

The other Israel-based development center in which Infineon was involved, StarCore, has also been closed recently. The center was owned jointly by Infineon, Agere Systems and Freescale. It was established in July 2002, based on Israeli DSP startup IC.com Ltd, acquired by the company in late 1999 for several million dollars. Most of the center's 90 workers have been recruited by Freescale and Agere, which, together with Infineon, have invested about $30 million in the joint venture.

- Amir Ben-Artzi
EE Times Europe