iPhone maker expands technical reach to Asia

Dec 9, 2014 16:03 GMT  ·  By

Prime Minister Abe Shinzo has been quoted as saying that Apple is opening up a new research & development center in Japan, leading to the hiring of several dozen new employees, according to Reuters.

The PM is quoted as telling the Jiji news service that “Apple has decided to undertake cutting-edge R&D in Japan,” adding that it will be announced formally in the near future. That’s hard to believe, considering Apple never makes a big case out of R&D, but it’s not entirely far-fetched either.

A spokesperson for Apple reportedly confirmed the news, also saying that the center will be based in Yokohama, just outside of Tokyo, and that it will create dozens of new job opportunities. In its 10-K filing earlier this year, Apple specifically said it would beef up on R&D.

The company has been spending extra money in this area as of late, and it doesn’t seem to be stopping. According to the filing, “The Company continues to believe that focused investments in R&D are critical to its future growth and competition in the marketplace and are directly related to timely development of new and enhanced products that are central to the Company's core business strategy.”

Apple currently carries out most (if not all) of its research and development in Cupertino, California. The company is also known to be building a massive, circular-shaped campus that will be finished in late 2016.

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